Noticable Habits
by Grandtheftfandom
Summary: Everyone had them right? Little habits, Marinette had them so Ladybug had them. Adrian had them, so Cat Noir had them, of course, that was the thing about Habits, they generally went unnoticed until you went looking for them, a few well placed words for their Kwami and suddenly the partnership can't NOT notice these damned habits. Ladrien ( I hope that's the shorthand)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm not gonna lie, this is a pretty random switch in the usual fandom for me, it wasn't really a planned thing either, I got home from work yesterday and my little sisters were all "YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS WITH US!" And since I didn't have anything else to do (And they can pull off puppy dogs eyes that'd put Manon to shame!) I began my Endeavour into watching the show, I may have liked it a little too much, I won't say something like it's flawless, but it reminds of many shows I enjoyed whilst I was younger and I really liked it.**

 **Of course, that developed into a headcannon for the fic your about to start (and hopefully enjoy.) I can't imagine this ever breaking the T rating I'm gonna slap on it, the romance will be a focal point, but I will sprinkle action through it, just expect it to be a little more…mature? I guess would be the right term! Without further ado, enjoy the sho-literature!**

* * *

"If we assume that object A, travelling at a velocity of…" The voice trailed into the back of her mind as she tapped her pen against her book, at what point would the velocity and speed of something help her design clothes? She sighed and continued her notes.

The girl flicked her hair behind her ear, the odd colored strands that sat somewhere between blue and a purple, she had gotten incredibly sick of telling people it wasn't dyed, it wasn't! Her light blue eyes trailed over the hunched back of the boy in front of her and a small wistful smile appearing on her face.

The school bell rang loudly, shaking her from her thoughts and drawing her forcibly back to reality "Marinette," The girls head whipped to the girl beside her.

Alya, Marinette's oldest friend, was a girl of average height for her age, her red hair lightened as it moved towards the tips, she shifted the glasses over her eyes quickly and the small mole above her right eye peaked out from behind her bangs.

"Hm?" Marinette hummed questioningly as she moved her books into her schoolbag.

"What are you doing later?" Alya asked simply

Marinette lifted an eyebrow "I have to babysit Manon later, other than that I should be free." Her light blue eyes shifted towards the small purse on her hip, that was assuming there could be a day she didn't have to go out and fight evil.

Alya glanced at the door, the classroom was now devoid of the students apart from them and the girls face split into a grin "Well, let's just say I know about a little photo shoot at a park that I think you'll be interested in."

"Why would I be interested in an, oh," Marinette paused catching her friends glance "Oh!" she exclaimed dumbly.

"Hah, oh? That all you got? No thank you Alya!? You're the greatest!? Please never leave me alone! You'll always be my only friend!" Alya threw her arms around dramatically as she spoke and wiped a faux tear from the corner of her eye as her voice trailed off.

Marinette rolled her eyes and got to her feet "Well, as much as I'd love to say all of that, and believe me I would, it doesn't do me much good, babysitting remember?"

"Just bring the kid, kids love parks." Alya offered simply.

"Oh yeah, my crush, my manipulative best friend and a small child, seems like nothing can go wrong at all!" Marinette let out sarcasm leaking into her tone as she got up.

"Hey, for your information I am wonderful with kids _and_ as your manipulative best friend, I already have it _all_ planned out!" Alya threw her arm into the air with a shout.

Marinette paled slightly and blanked "I'm quite sure I should be worried."

"Oh girl, just relax and leave it to me, let's go!" Alya threw her arm forward as she passed Marinette who fell into step behind her friend.

* * *

"Man, there will never be a time you don't confuse me," Nino sighed, running a hand over his cap, spinning it quickly, he was tall, brown skinned, dark brown hair, black rimmed glasses over golden brown eyes "I mean, you're a model, you could have your pick of any girl in school and your all like…this." The boy just gestured to his friend vaguely.

Adrien sighed, this was not the first time he had had this conversation, the blonde ruffled his hair with a hand, his blonde bangs falling around over his bright green eyes that reflected his slight irritation, although a small smile appeared on his face as he spoke "You just gestured to all of me."

"I know, I meant all of you," Nino responded simply "I mean, you aren't closet right? Not that I'd judge if you were, I just mean you know, you don't seem to have any interest."

Adrien's eyes widened at his friend in disbelief "No-what? Of course not, I have an interest, a _large_ interest in girls, there is a girl I like!"

"First calm down dude," Nino counted one finger "Second, spill."

"Huh?" Adrien sounded in confusion.

"Spill as in the beans, who is it, whose mystery girl?" Nino asked excitedly.

A car horn drew Adrien's attention, he took the welcome distraction with a quick smirk "Sorry man, photo shoot I'll talk to you some other time!" He called as he quickly jogged across the street and climbed into the side of the white limousine.

"Dodged again huh?" Nino sighed as he placed his hands in his pockets, his mind wandering, mystery girl? Well, he could rule out Chloe at the very least, the only person who didn't know Adrien didn't like her was her, that left a few female students, but he wouldn't call them mysterious, no the way Adrien said it made him think it was someone way out of the ball park, someone you'd never even consider.

* * *

"I'll head home now, I've got to get home before Mrs. Chamack drops of Manon," Marinette gave Alya a small wave and dashed across the street quickly "See you later!" She called before continuing on her way.

Alya waved and heard someone walk up beside her, Nino had a calculating look on his face as he stroked his chin "Hey hot-stuff, what's eating you?"

Nino started, jumping half a foot in the air at the voice beside him, his eyes settled on the familiar wavy hair and a small smile appeared on his face "Oh you know, trying to decipher the mystery girl." He answered vaguely.

"Mystery girl, that a scoop I can use?" Alya asked in excitement

"Well, as great a story Adrien's love life would be, I don't think he'd want that kind of thing publicized," Nino considered "So no, my lips are pretty sealed."

Alya just shrugged "So, what have you got so far?"

"I know this sounds off base, but I have a hunch," Nino smirked as the pair began walking "I think Adrien and Marinette are together."

Alya's eyes might have fallen out of her head had they been able to "Wha?!"

"Let me explain okay," Nino offered quickly and Alya quieted, more than a little intrigued "Okay, so first, Adrien tells me he does have a girl he likes, but we've talked about _every_ girl in school before, the only exception being Marinette."

"You talked about me?" Alya asked a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Well, I talked Adrien just listened for that one," Nino admitted, scratching the back of his neck in slight embarrassment "But anyway just listen."

Alya nodded and Nino continued "So, I got to thinking, we've never talked about her, she's practically always staring at him and he tries really hard to pretend he doesn't notice, but then every time _anything_ happens they both just vanish!"

Alya came to an abrupt halt "You think it's all a big ruse and they are secretly dating?!"

"Yeah, it sounds a little crazy but it's possible right?" Nino's eyebrows raised hopefully as he spoke and Alya frowned as she mulled over the information.

"Well, I mean, it all makes sense, but there's kind of one problem," Alya offered, Nino lifted an eyebrow in askance "Marinette can't even hold a conversation with him for five seconds without turning into a blubbering idiot."

"I sort of noticed, I told you it sounded off base." Nino sighed and spun his cap, Alya smiled and placed her hands on his shoulder, leaning up slightly to peck his cheek.

"Hey, you almost convinced me, if she was better at speaking around him it would be completely possible," Alya smiled "Alright, I've got a meeting to set up and fate to write, I'll call you later, kay?"

Nino nodded "You know it would probably work out better if you just locked them in a room until she could speak to him."

Alya waved to him "I'll keep that in mind!"

* * *

Marinette slumped on the couch with a heavy thud, her purse unclipped and a small red and black spotted being floated above her face, looking down at her in concern "I think you should just tell that boy how you feel already." Tikki offered simply.

"Ah yes, I can see it now! Adrien, my love please notice me!" She exclaimed dramatically "I can't even say good morning to him without going all." She locked all her muscles in an awkward position and let out a strangled sound, Tikki just frowned.

"If only Adrien was Cat Noir, you'd have no trouble talking to him then." Tikki chuckled.

Marinette frowned at the small being until her door burst open, Tikki darted back into her purse as the small toddler barreled towards her, flipping over the couch in a way only a toddler could, acquiring the TV remote somewhere during the stunt to turn the TV on and land in a perfect thud.

The TV flickered to life, it was the finalists for some kind of teenage weather girl competition, Marinette watched half heartedly as she thought about what Tikki had said, Adrien and Cat Noir? As if they could be the same person, Adrien was well…wait, how could she be so sure, Cat Noir could literally be _anyone_ , that included Adrien and their hair was so incredibly similar.

No, there are plenty of guys with kinda long blonde hair, it's in fashion these days, again mostly due to Adrien but it was facts, they did both have green eyes, although Cat Noir's eyes were all, well all green, they weren't really human eyes but, Marinette shot a quick glare at her purse, of course the thought had to planted in her head.

But maybe, because they looked so similar she could imagine Adrien as Cat Noir, maybe she'd be able to properly speak to him! That was worth a shot, even if she was blurring the Cat she didn't like and the boy she _really_ liked, that wouldn't be a problem, no way in a hundred years would she _fall_ for Cat Noir. Just the thought almost made her laugh.

"I wanna vote for Mireille!" Manon exclaimed enthusiastically as she dived for Marinette's phone, said girl managed to snag it before the toddler got a hold of it and got to her feet.

"Say, Manon would you like to go to the park with me and a friend?" Marinette asked, hoping to distract the toddler

"Only if you by me fairy floss!" Manon exclaimed in ultimatum, jumping atop the coffee table and placing her hands on her hips and sticking her small chest forward, Marinette let out a low chuckle.

"Okay, fairy floss it is." Marinette held out her hand and the toddler took it quickly, jumping from the table and excited by the prospect of treats, began to excitedly pull Marinette forward.

* * *

Adrien sat on a small green park bench sipping at a bottle of water with a sigh, a small black cat floated from his pocket and hovered there as he peered around "Why are you all down?"

"Well, I sort of told Nino I like _someone_ , but I mean, I can't really go oh, I'm in love with this superhero who nobody knows because I work together with her and I'm actually Cat Noir so I kind of know her, well the superhero her anyway." Adrien rambled quickly, throwing his hand around in front of him in irritation.

"Well, why not just lie to him? Or better yet, confess to Ladybug and maybe she'll tell you who she is, either that or do some good old fashioned police work and figure it yourself." Plagg replied boredly, as if these options were painfully obvious.

"You're beautifully blunt answers are always helpful," Adrien blanked at the cat as he spoke with sarcasm "Whenever I try to talk to Ladybug about anything serious, the stupid you side of me kicks in and I act like some kind of big shot lady killer."

"Hey, I don't control anything that's your own protective instinct." Plagg shot at him in retort.

"It's still unhelpful, can't you just like magic it away?" Adrien asked, knowing the question was pointless before he asked, it was worth a shot though right?

"No, why don't you try some normal human fixes first, like visualization or something." Plagg offered.

"What do you suggest?" Adrien asked, slightly intrigued.

"Well, if you could pick one girl on the planet you think you could tell _anything_ too in confidence who would it be?" Plagg asked

Adrien's face contorted as he thought "I don't know, Marinette probably? She doesn't talk much around me, but she's honest, kind of clumsy, she's pretty in a 'looks a lot like my crush kinda way'."

"Well, try picturing Ladybug as her, see if that works." Plagg offered simply

"I'll test that out." Adrien chuckled as he downed the rest of his water and walked towards the camera man, who began snapping picture after picture at him, Adrien just went through the poses he was asked to do automatically while he thought.

Looks a lot like my crush kinda way huh? Well, I mean they do both have that hair and the eyes are the same, but I mean, no way anyone as clumsy as Marinette would be Ladybug, I mean the city would be doomed if that were the case. He chuckled and the photographer shot him a look, Adrien quickly apologized and returned to doing what he was asked.

* * *

A strange gust of wind pulled at Marinette's clothes as she entered in the park, Alya waved her over and Manon looked around curiously, trying to determine where the candy was and how long it would take before Marinette bought it for her.

"Manon, this is my best friend, Alya, Alya, Manon." Marinette introduced quickly.

Alya crouched and smiled warmly "I can't believe you think looking after this little angel would be difficult."

"She's only cute now cause I promised sugar," Marinette responded jokingly "So, did I miss anything important?"

"No, the photographers getting irritated something is apparently ' _missing'_ from the pictures," Alya dismissed quickly, looking over a the fountain, the photographer looked over towards them and Marinette sent Adrien a quick wave, the blonde smirked and waved back, the photographer watched the exchange and it seemed like a light bulb went off in his head, he dashed over to the group quickly.

"You!" He pointed at Marinette, who's eyes widened in surprise.

"I want you to model with him, it will complete this perfectly!" The photographer put an arm around Marinette's shoulder and created a square with his fingers around Adrien's head.

Marinette's eyes darted from Manon to Alya to Adrien to the photographer and back in rapid succession as her cheeks colored.

"Ohh, is that the boy?" Manon whispered to Alya quietly, Alya nodded her head quickly.

"You should go Mari, I can stay with your friend, I better get ice cream later for this though!" Manon exclaimed happily.

Marinette took a long breath, he's Cat Noir, annoying, flirty, irritating Cat Noir, the one you would _never_ in a million years fall for at all.

"Okay, fairy floss and ice cream, that's going to a combination of killer sugar levels," Marinette chuckled "But I think it's a fair trade."

She handed some money to Alya who took it with a quick smile as the photographer practically dragged Marinette towards Adrien.

"Hey." Adrien said simply

"Hey," Marinette gave him another small wave, her cheeks colored darkly and her head yelled at her, she took another deep breath, Cat Noir, she repeated the name in her head like a mantra as she turned to the camera "Is he always like this?"

"Pretty much, you should have seen when he tried to pick Chloe as his 'muse' though," Adrien paled and his face blanked "I wanted to crawl into a hole."

"I can imagine," Marinette replied, it was working, her nervousness was slowly starting to fade! She had actually made a complete sentence without stuttering or looking like a fool! She was holding an actual conversation "So what do we do now?"

"Whatever he tells us really, don't worry I'll lead." Adrien titled his head and smiled cockily, pointing a thumb at himself, Marinette frowned, maybe picturing him too much like Cat Noir had to opposite effect, although seeing Adrien's face say it and not a cat eyed mask made her heart flutter against her chest quickly.

"Okay, happy couple!" The photographer shouted, Adrien inclined his head slight and mouthed sorry as he moved, Marinette stiffened against him as he placed a hand on her waist and pulled her into him, he looked at the camera, his smile flashed and Marinette just stood like a dear in headlights.

Cat Noir, Cat Noir, Cat Noir, nope, the stupid cat was not strong enough for her to shake this reality, as much as she'd like to move her legs felt like lead, the photographer frowned slightly.

"You're way too tense," Adrien whispered "I'll lead so just trust me, okay?"

Marinette nodded her head, the photographer took some kind of cue from Adrien as the blonde boy moved, his hand trailed along her back in a leisurely circle "Deep breaths," He whispered simply, she followed his instructions keeping her eyes glued to the camera, "Now, big smile."

And so she smiled, face splitting into a grin almost ear to ear, not her nervous smile either, a normal smile, she was interacting with Adrien, well, he was leading her in a photo shoot and her entire body lit on fire whenever his hand or arm or leg brushed against her, but she hadn't fainted and hadn't embarrassed herself yet!

The movements became easier, she found herself gained a little bit more confidence with every satisfied face the photographer made, _she_ was the missing puzzle that made Adrien even better on that camera, she was helping him, _she_ was the one standing beside him, feeling all these little touches, hearing the reassuring whispers, the delicious shocks of electrify that raced along her spine every time he spoke and moved caused the smile on her face to grow a little more ecstatic each time.

"Okay, now a command for the muse, a little seduction please!" The photographer exclaimed.

Marinette wasn't exactly sure what possessed her in that moment, maybe it was the high of being so close to him, or the fact that she felt like she had won some kind of battle and was finally getting the reward for beating it, Adrien was about to say something about how that command was a little too difficult for an amateur, even if Marinette was surprisingly good after the first mistake, when he was turned abruptly, his eyes widened as she cocked an eyebrow at him, her arms draped lazily over his neck, one hand gently resting his hair, a small half smile tugging at one side of her mouth.

Adrien stood in mild shock, he most definitely be lying if he said he didn't want to just stay like that, he swore he could put the Ladybug mask on it and it would almost be the look of irritation he got every time he said something cheesy to her, but replace the irritation with an almost hungry glow, his face felt like it was on fire. The snapping of the camera most definitely took too long.

As the photographer bounced on his feet excitedly, Marinette finally spoke "What's the matter Cat got your tongue?" She asked with a chuckle as she stepped away.

"I, uh," Why did Marinette look _so_ much like Ladybug? He almost had to physically restrain himself from leaning forward in that moment, what was wrong with him, his heart was racing against his chest.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your stand point, the powerful gust of wind and the loud cackling laughter that came from above them interrupted the thoughts currently swimming around in Adrien's head.

"I need to go check on Manon!" Marinette exclaimed in a quick excuse darting away, Adrien glanced at her back then up at the figure descending towards them, her light purple grey eyes scanning the park underneath her as she landed softly, her dark purple hair was mixed with a lighter pink, the two colors spiraled on either side of her head in two pigtails and her bangs were the lighter pink, her dark purple parasol was slung over her shoulder, a white gloved hand resting lazily on the handle. Her dark purple dress stopped above at the knee.

Adrien dived behind a nearby tree and peered around, everyone seemed more focused on her at the moment as he clenched his fist his ring glinted slightly "Plagg, Let's go!" The dark cat was pulled into the ring quickly, the small green paw print appeared on the ring and Adrien ran his fingers of his eyes and above his head, his mask settling into place as his ears popped up and twitched slightly, his suit enveloped his body starting at the toes and moving over his form, he darted around the tree and drew his staff in a fluent motion as he planted his foot and spun into a wide strike.

The parasol opened wide and his staff clanked against the top of it loudly, the girl smirked and threw her hand at him, a powerful wall of wind slammed into his chest and sent him backwards he rolled over his head and slid to a stop in a crouch, he straightened to his feet quickly, staff spinning in his hand.

Whilst the villain's eyes were on him he spotted a familiar flash of red, the villain noticed his eyes slide of her and she turned in time to see a quick red coated foot fly towards her face and catch her on the chin, the villain flew backwards.

"Losing your touch Cat?" Ladybug taunted playfully as she slid to a stop next to him.

Cat Noir shook his head violently, forcing the image of Marinette to correctly appear as Ladybug before he responded "Of course not Milady, merely allowing you to show up." He quipped in response

Ladybug rolled her eyes simply "Well, let's just say I have a busy day so let's get this one over quick."

"Hm, hot date?" Cat Noir asked as he spun his staff in his palm and darted forward.

Ladybug titled her head to the side "You could say that." She laughed as she moved to the left, the pair effectively circling around the villain before cutting in with a sharp kick.

The girl swung her parasol into the air and slammed it into the ground, lightning slammed around her in a ring and forced the pair of heroes to jump backwards.

Marinette looked around quickly as she spun her yo-yo in her hand, a small smile fell on her face as she threw the weapon into the air, a quick flash of light and a large bucket landed in her hand, she darted towards the fountain and filled it, she threw the water at the lightning, and the girl inside cut off the lightning quickly.

She spun into a quick launch of her yoyo and the wire wrapped around the girls arms as Cat Noir slid forward and took out her legs, the parasol flew into the air as the villain as toppled to her feet and landed with a quiet thud in Ladybugs hand, who dropped it on the ground and stomped harshly.

A small black and purple moth flew from the broken parasol and Ladybug drew a quick line down the centre of her yoyo, the thing opened and glowed a light purple as she spun it and swung it around, trapping the Akuma in the centre.

She waited a moment before she released it "Stay out of trouble from now on." She announced simply.

"Why, our perfect teamwork never fails to amaze does it Milady?" Cat Noir leaned on his staff, a cocky grin on his face that was oh-so painfully familiar as Ladybug turned away.

"Speak for yourself, I did almost all the work." She retorted playfully.

"A gentlemen allows a lady to maintain her fiction," Cat Noir bowed with a flourish, his ring beeped loudly and the two started "On that note, ladies first."

Ladybug placed a hand over her heart mockingly as she threw her yoyo over a building and pulled, flying out of site quickly.

Adrien watched her retreating form with a small smile as he vaulted the buildings near him, landing with a light thud, Plagg returned to the air in front of him and huffed tiredly "Come on, I didn't even use Cataclysm, stop being a baby."

"You haven't fed me in like," Plagg counted a few fingers and looked as if her were in deep thought "Three, no four hours!"

"That's not a long time." Adrien countered blankly as they made their way back to the park, Plagg hid himself within Adrien's shirt.

The blonde looked around the park for a few seconds, Marinette was over with her friend Alya and a small girl, he remembered hearing Marinette saying she had someone to babysit the little girl was waving an ice cream in one hand and a large chunk of fairy floss in the other gleefully.

Marinette noticed him looking and moved over to him "What happened to you?"

"I got blown a few blocks away," Adrien lied quickly "What about you milady?"

Marinette's eyes widened for only a fraction of a second "I ended up getting frozen over by the carousel with Manon and Alya." She lied quickly, pushing Adrien's behavior out of her mind.

A car horn beeped and Adrien spun around, thankful for his drivers apparent percent knowledge of timing "Maybe we can work together again some time?"

Marinette considered for a second before answered "I'm much more at home designing clothes than modeling them, but hey, if you _really_ wanted me as your muse I could probably bring myself to agree."

Adrien laughed "Whatever Milady wishes." He bowed and quickly flourished his wrist, Marinette's eyes were drawn to the blank silver ring on his finger before he darted off, jumping into the back seat of the white limo.

"Who are you and what did you do with the blubbering idiot that was my friend?!" Alya exclaimed excitedly as she jumped on Marinette's back.

Marinette let out a surprised shout and toppled back, landing on the ground with a groan.

There was no way right? Adrien couldn't be Cat Noir, but _why_ did they seem to move the _exact_ same way.

She hastily made an excuse she wasn't sure Alya actually believed and took Manon home, Mrs. Chamack arrived a few moments after they arrived to take Manon home and Marinette quickly moved into her room, her removed and old pin board and placed one of the many pictures of Adrien on it, before pulling a second picture from her drawer, of Cat Noir, he had given her this picture ages ago, she felt like she had tried to throw it away before, he was winking at the camera, his usual cocky cat like self, he pinned the picture beside Adrien's.

There was just no way.

Adrien was Cat Noir? Cat Noir was Adrien?

Maybe she was just too tired.

* * *

 **A/N: So, what'd you think of the Pilot? I plan to leave the romance basically as it is at the moment, the two will continue to investigate each other! But will they ever get proper proof to confirm their hunches?! As I said at the beginning this is primarily a romance story, LAdrien? Ariette? Not sure what the shorthand is, with a side sprinkling of Alya/Nino cause I just like em! I hope you enjoys this chapter though!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, so a big thanks to NitenGale, who gave me a quick rundown of the fricken insane number of shorthand's this one pairing has, I can safely say it will be all of them, all the time, because I plan to cover all the eps, that also ties into the whole theme of the story, but I won't spoil that cause well, then you wouldn't have to read it!**

 **Side note, glad you're enjoying this story so far, I kind of realized partway through the last chapter that I had misspelled 'Adrien's' name and it was, 1:30 in the morning and I was tired and so I was like nope, I've written too much, I'm committing, but as of this chapter it will be correctly spelled I'll probably edit the first chapter after work later today, so I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Adrien awoke to the smell of three day old cheese and the blaring of his alarm, unfortunately in that order, he sat up abruptly knocking Plagg and the Kwami's supply of cheese across the room and onto the floor, Plagg didn't seem to mind much as he gathered the scattered pieces.

Adrien ran a hand through his hair and over his face as he yawned and stretched up, his back giving off a few relieving pops as his eyes trailed over his room, the only new addition being the pin board on the door, a picture of Ladybug, that he'd snapped one day when she wasn't looking and one of Marinette, putting them side by side only confused him further.

There was just no way, Marinette could be Ladybug or Ladybug could be Marinette, it just didn't make sense.

The issue was it was making more sense the more he thought about it, he kicked off his bed and moved to his closet quickly dressing himself and glancing at the mirror in the door of his wardrobe, his hair was doing it's thing, sticking up in every direction at once and he frowned at it, contemplating leaving it that way but quickly deciding against it and flattening it with his hand.

His phone buzzed and he walked over to his desk and picked it up, his schedule for the day and a happy birthday message from Nino, Adrien chuckled to himself.

"Right it's that day of the year again, yay age!" He exclaimed sort of sarcastically as he shouldered his bag and gestured for Plagg to take up residence in his shirt pocket, the Kwami complied with little protest as Adrien exited his room.

* * *

Marinette's wake up was much more violent, due to the fact that in one of her crazed dreams she managed to fall out of her bed with a loud thud, she just stayed on the ground peering at her ceiling and considered contemplating life's mysteries.

Was school really that important? Was there really any 'have to's' in life? Her computer flicked on and she craned her neck slightly to look at it, her mind quickly rocketed to the present.

"Aha! It's Adrien's birthday! Now I have something to think about other than that stupid Cat," She was on her feet, wide smile on her face as she darted around, gathering clothes, putting the present she had made in her school bag, giving Tikki an extra cookie, she dressed quickly and looked in the mirror, she froze.

It looked like someone had taken an eggbeater to her hair, she didn't even want to think about the work it would take to get it into her usual pig tails, she grabbed her hair brush with a resolute nod as she raked it through her hair and winced, why did hair find it necessary to do this in her sleep, how much could she possibly move?

A quick glance at her bed quickly answered the question, the blanket thrown halfway across the room at some point and she sighed "Aren't I supposed to be good luck?"

"Well, Cat Noir is also bad luck, so you could look at it like he takes your good luck and you take his bad and it all balances out." Tikki offered as she landed atop Marinette's shoulder.

"Oh, more reasons to avoid the Cat." Marinette quipped with a quick laugh.

"What is Cat Noir really is Adrien? You still want to avoid him?" Tikki asked lifting an eyebrow.

"No, I don't actually want to avoid Cat Noir, we are partners, as annoying as he is," Marinette amended as she slumped, her hair finally sitting straight down her back, it was deceptively long, her usual style brought it back further than most expected, she gathered it up quickly and bundled it into a hurried pony tail, she inspected it quickly with a quick shake of her head and was satisfied it wouldn't get in her way "And stop doing, that Adrien couldn't be Cat Noir, it just…doesn't make any sense."

"Oh, how's that? They both call you Milady?" Tikki asked as Marinette shoulder her bag.

"Cat Noir only says it as a joke, he enjoys teasing," Marinette countered "I don't know why Adrien said it yesterday, maybe he just felt like it, I mean he might say it all the time for all I know, I don't hold many extended conversations with him you know."

"So, more observation is necessary!" Tikki exclaimed excitedly throwing a tiny fist into the air in excitement as she deposited herself in Marinette's purse.

"Stop giving me idea's," Marinette pleaded half jokingly "If Adrien and Cat Noir were the same person, her treatment of Cat Noir has been horrible! If Adrien found out she was Ladybug, or Cat Noir found out she was Marinette…that would be bad?

The identities swirled around in her head and Marinette placed a hand on the wall to quickly steady herself, she took a deep breath, deciding not to think about it, Adrien wasn't Cat Noir, that made everything simple.

Sort of.

* * *

"Adrien!" Nino called excitedly as he ran, Adrien gave him a quick wave "So, what'd your dad say? Epic party or what?"

"Oh." Adrien sounded blankly.

"Oh? Did you ask? I swear to all things sacred Adrien Agreste!" Nino shook a fist at him jokingly.

"Look, I have a few hours free later but I'd rather a small party with just close friends you know? I don't want to be swarmed with fans." Adrien explained quickly, while it was true he'd never thrown a huge party, he doubted it would be his scene anyway, besides even if he never _threw_ one, he'd get to _go_ to one eventually, with Nino's penchant for huge parties it was definitely in the cards.

Nino blew a series of bubbles and hummed "Okay, that makes sense, but I still think you should be able to throw one massive party in your life, I mean you got a mansion you have to do a Bruce Wayne at some point right?"

"Bruce Wayne?" Adrien asked in confusion

"Batman?" Nino looked at his friend like he'd grown a second head "You…how do you…what? Where do you even come from?"

"Here…I'm at least ninety nine percent sure I don't come from another planet." Adrien replied

"Batman's this super rich superhero who fights bad guys, his civilian name 'Bruce Wayne', you know what just read this!" Nino rolled his eyes and held out an older issue of a Batman comic, printed boldly on the front with a superhero holding a grappling hook.

Adrien lifted an eyebrow at it "Oh, it's a comic book, okay that makes sense, my dad says 'If you can't learn anything from it it's pointless' so I've never had one." Adrien explained quickly

Nino placed a hand over his heart in mock hurt "Dude, that's just…oppressive!"

"It's not that bad, I don't have a lot of time to sit around and read anyway." Adrien slid the book into his bag quickly as the bell rang.

* * *

Marinette slid to a stop outside of the classroom door, she shifted her hair moved stealthily inside while the teacher was busy with the board, she walked backwards towards her seat as the teacher turned around she took a step forward, making it look like she'd just gotten up from her seat.

Ms. Mendeleiev eyed her for a few second before speaking "Sit back down." Marinette nodded her head quickly and sat in her seat, Alya gave her a pat on the shoulder as Marinette fist pumped under the table.

"I can't believe that worked." Alya sounded impressed

Marinette scratched the back of her head with a nervous smile.

"Your hair looks good like that, you should wear it down more often." Alya noted simply.

Marinette smiled and nodded "Well, it's not down down, but it's kinda down and it _is_ nice." She explained gesturing to her ponytail.

"Okay, did you remember what day it is?" Alya asked rhetorically.

"Who do you think I am?" Marinette replied with a chuckle patting her bag slowly, a nervous excitement settling into her stomach.

* * *

"Sorry about that miss," Adrien returned to the classroom with a nervous smile as he pocketed his phone "Urgent business."

The teacher raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him and just gestured for him to take his seat, Adrien caught a small wave as he moved up the stairs, his breath caught in his throat, he'd never seen Marinette wear her hair down, well, sort of down, before it was pleasant, a nice change of pace.

"Now if Ladybug turns up in a ponytail that'd just be so awkward." Plagg whispered from his coat, Adrien tilted his head and flashed Marinette a grin as he sat down he crushed his elbow into his side, flattening Plagg stealthily, the Kwami let out a squeak that thankfully went unnoticed.

* * *

Marinette sighed, why did she have to see Cat Noir in Adrien's smile, or was it Cat Noirs smile in Adrien? What was the order to these things? That blaringly blank ring drew her attention as well, it was even on the _exact_ same finger Cat Noirs was and if there powers were even a little bit similar that's where his Kwami would go.

Marinette raked her fingers over the side of her head and busied herself with her notes, anything to break the damned cycle in her head.

* * *

Plagg just had to say it didn't he? He swore his Kwami was doing it just to torture him, he had a hard enough time trying to not notice the things Marinette and Ladybug had in common, he was almost hoping for an Akuma today, just to see if Ladybug _really_ did turn up in a ponytail.

The image certainly quickened his heartbeat and brought a slight coloring to his cheeks, Nino glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes and a small smirk appeared on his face, he nudged Adrien with his arm "So, Marinette huh?"

"She changed her hair, I noticed, nothing big." Adrien replied curtly, clearly trying to end the conversation before it started.

Nino pushed on determinedly "Well, she _is_ the only girl we have never talked about and it would make sense if she was mystery girl sense you guys always disappear together whenever anything happens."

Adrien's interest was piqued "She always disappears as well?"

Didn't he just decide to stop doing this to himself, Marinette wasn't Ladybug, there was no way his love life would be that lucky, he was literally bad luck in a superhero, well Plagg was bad luck…He was just, well average luck, but average luck wasn't like this!

"Yeah, whenever anything evil like happens, you guys both run off and reappear after everything's all good, I mean it's almost like you guys are Ladybug and Cat Noir." Nino stroked at his chin thoughtfully and leaned back.

Adrien paled slightly and chuckled "Oh yeah, I'm a slayer of evil beings and wooer of maidens hearts when I'm not doing fashion shoots."

"Hey, I'm just stating facts, I don't think your Cat Noir, your terrible with secrets." Nino responded simply

"I'm not terrible with secrets," Adrien countered "I still want to know how you think Marinette is Ladybug, I mean, clumsy, quiet, honest, cute Marinette, of all people." Cute?! Honest?! I've spoken to her one time am I trying to do this to myself?!

"Oh, cute huh? Where's the lack of interest?" Nino sat forward a large grin on his face.

"I'm just stating facts." Adrien replied nervously.

Nino just gave him a blank look "Fine, if you don't want to admit it to me _your best friend_ , I'll just have to make you want to!"

Adrien blanked "I'm very worried now."

"I'm gonna talk to your dad." Nino announced boldly.

"No, please don't." Adrien almost begged, almost.

"Don't worry, he'll love me!" Nino proclaimed happily.

"No, I'm really very extra sure that he won't." Adrien countered

"Hah, there's no way he'll be able to resist all this," Nino gestured to himself vaguely "I got the quick words, the sick beats and…bubbles."

"Oh, yes, my father can be won over by bubbles how come I never thought of that?" Adrien announced sarcastically, head thumping against the desk with a thud.

"Don't worry about it, just leave it to me!" Nino smirked.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Adrien called after the boy as he bolted out the door the moment the bell rang.

* * *

"I feel kind of obligated to go after him," Alya sighed as she got to her feet "You should take this chance to give Adrien his gift."

Marinette nodded her head dumbly, unable to make words correctly form, she hadn't meant to eavesdrop per say, she couldn't just turn her ears off, Nino and Adrien weren't exactly talking quietly.

Adrien disappeared at the same time as her all the time, he called her cute, her mind was more focused on the latter of the two things, but both were filed away for later use, she got to her feet, now it was just a simple give Adrien the gift. She rose to her feet and her bag caught the edge of the desk as she moved to stand up, the jarring catch sent her forward, she braced and waited to slam into the hardwood floors, only she hit something soft, quite warm and heard and loud quick thumping in her ear.

Her head lifted slowly, eyes trailing over the familiar undershirt and settling on even more familiar bright green eyes, her own eyes widened and she let out an unintelligible squeak.

Adrien was in much the same position, the who had been relentlessly plaguing his thoughts was inches from his face, this time registering shock more than the glint of the day before. She was soft and warm and she hadn't actually taken her weight off of him yet so he was hyper aware of _everything_ under her shirt, he stiffened rigidly trying to force his mind somewhere else, that didn't help, especially with her sweet smelling shampoo wafting into his nose every time he tried to breath, he could smell vanilla and something else, like freshly baked bread, well she did live over a bakery.

His mind wondered if she tasted as good as she smelled before she pushed back, finally climbing off him and releasing him from the torturous images as his heartbeat calmed, his face remained died red as much as hers.

He's Cat Noir, Marinette thought to herself hastily, her mind quickly calmed and formed words, why did he have to smell _so_ good, she could feel _everything_ beneath her when she landed on him, the toned muscles underneath his chest, oh her teenage brain was having a field day, she forced the image of herself running her tongue along his chest to the back of her mind quickly.

"Um," She began slowly reaching into her bag "Happy Birthday." She handed him the present "I made it myself, I hope that'd not weird."

"If you weren't trying to become a designer it might be," Adrien quipped with a laugh as he took the box and opened it, the light blue scarf inside brought him a small smile "Thanks."

He removed it and draped it around his neck, tilting his head back and flashing a grin "How do I look?"

"Puuuuurfect." Marinette drawled hungrily before she could stop herself, she stiffened, Adrien colored, she smiled nervously and darted out of the room quickly.

Adrien hid the smile on his face behind his hand as he moved out of the classroom.

* * *

"I think that went well." Tikki sounded from within Marinette's purse.

"What about that went _well_?!" Marinette demanded flatly

"Well, he didn't throw you off him and call you a freak for sounding like you wanted to eat him, I think those are positives." Tikki responded

"Don't remind me!" Marinette exclaimed throwing her hands into the air.

* * *

Nino squared his shoulders as he walked inside the massive manor that was Adrien's home, the assistants heals clacked against the marble and echoed off the walls as they came to a stop.

Adrien's father, Gabriel Agreste stood at the top of the stairs, peering down at Nino inspect-fully, appearing almost displeased "What is it?"

"Sir," Nino inclined his head respectfully "I came here today to ask you about Adrien, well more specifically what you plan to do about Adrien's birthday?"

"What do you mean? 'Plan to do' I'll give him a gift same as every years that's all that is required of me is it not?" Gabriel responded curtly, casting a sideways glare at his assistant.

"Adrien has friends at school, they want to celebrate it with him, I think allowing your son to throw one party a year isn't unreasonable." Nino responded simply "There is much more you _should_ do for your only sons birthday, but a party is a good start."

Gabriel lifted an eyebrow at the boy simply "You say Adrien would like a party?"

"Yes, sir I know he wants to experience it at least once." Nino replied strongly.

"Then why didn't he ask me himself? If it's something he truly wanted he would talk to me about it, not send his… _classmate_ to see me." Gabriel emphasized classmate.

"I'm his best friend!" Nino exclaimed in irritation "He told me he'd rather have a small party, because he doesn't need heaps of people there, but I think he only said that because he knew _you_ wouldn't object if he had a small group with him!"

"Please escort this boy outside, I've wasted enough time on this folly as is." Gabriel waved them away as he ascended the stairs.

Nino's eyes widened as he was deposited on the doorstep "What the hell?! He doesn't even care?!"

He undid the cap on his bubble blower and blew a stream in front of himself in irritation, he missed the small black moth land on the side of it as he got to his feet before someone suddenly spoke in his ear.

"Bubbler, I'll grant you the power to remove the people in your way, but in return you have to help me." The voice was dark and angry sounding, but Nino smiled widely as the gears in his mind turned over.

"Sure, sounds like it'll be a _blast_." He laughed as he ascended into the sky.

* * *

Adrien sat in the back seat of a white limo his dad had sent, twirling the edge of the scarf Marinette had given him on his finger as he finger hovered a few inches above the number he had gotten from Alya he looked down at the phone and saw a reflection of something in it and glanced out the window.

He frowned, there was something familiar about the person flying over them, he couldn't place it from this distance, but he knew an Akuma when he saw one.

"Stop the car." He commanded urgently, his driver slammed on the brakes and Adrien moved outside, darting into a nearby ally as he closed his fist.

"Plagg, let's go." He commanded simply, the cat flew into his ring quickly and Adrien moved his hand over his face, his mask slid over his eyes as his ears popped onto his head, he spun his staff in his fingers as he embedded it into the wall, the rest of his suit enveloping him as he used the staff as a spring board, retracting it as he launched into the sky The boy glanced at him in surprise as Cat Noir hovered a few inches above him, everything seemed to slow down as Adrien brought his staff around and slammed it into the villains back sending him hurtling into the ground with a loud crash.

Cat Noir landed gracefully, staff held in both hands behind his back as he smirked and swayed slightly "I'm pretty sure this is a no fly zone buddy."

"Cat Noir." The villain laughed as he got to his feet, he glanced at his pack, the thing sparked slightly indicating he wouldn't be using it any time soon, the villain let a wide grin fall on his face.

"Nino?" Cat Noir asked in disbelief, of course the conversation with his father, he felt like punching himself, he definitely should have gone.

"Hah! Nino doesn't exist in here," Nino tapped his head with a cackling laugh "It's all the Bubbler now!"

Cat Noir shifted slightly, thumb moving over a button that clicked quietly.

* * *

"Cat Noirs fighting an Akuma!" Tikki voiced urgently, Marinette's eyes widened and she jumped to her feet.

"Come on Tikki." The small Kwami slammed into Marinette's earrings quickly, Marinette moved her hand over her eyes as the mask appeared she pushed onto the terrace above her as the rest of her suit appeared over her body and she withdrew her yoyo and wrapped around an opposite building before leaping off the terrace.

* * *

Cat Noir rolled his shoulders slowly as he spun his staff in his hands, the opponents eyed each other squarely, neither moving a muscle until the Bubbler shifted, Cat Noir dashed forward as the Bubbler withdrew his weapon and blew into it, a torrent of dark red bubbles flew towards Cat Noir rapidly.

He rolled to the side and brought his staff up, cutting one in half as it exploded his eyes widened as he was surrounded by smoke, he heard something shift behind him and he lifted his staff as the Bubblers weapon came down towards his head, it clanged against the staff.

"You're gonna have to do better than that." Cat Noir taunted as he flipped around and slammed his feet into the Bubblers chest sending the villain back a few steps.

"Hm, looks like you don't my assistance at all kitty." Ladybug sounded from the top of a street lamp with a chuckle.

Cat Noirs eyes trailed up the street post and fell on her face, he uttered a silent prayer that her hair was normal, of course the single pony tail drew around the back of her head "Bad hair day?" He offered with a chuckle

Ladybug flicked the pony tail with a shrug "I needed a change."

The street lamp shook dangerously as a bubble blew the thing apart and Ladybug jumped away from it, landing with a light thud next to Cat Noir.

"I wouldn't want you to forget about me now." The Bubbler laughed loudly.

"And how could we ever do that?" Ladybug quipped with a laugh as she spun her yoyo in front of herself.

"His Akuma's in his bubble blower," Cat Noir whispered quickly as he fell into step beside her "I don't much more than he can create explosives."

Ladybug rolled her neck for a second before planting her front foot and rushing forward, the Bubbler blew a quick torrent at her and she spun her yoyo in front of herself cutting the bubbles around her as she created a wide smoke screen.

Cat Noir jumped into the air and brought his staff down, the Bubbler dodged back as Ladybug slid between Cat Noir's legs the villain smirked "You think I've only got one trick?!" He cackled as a large green circle enveloped them.

Ladybug slid up the side of the bubble and he eyes widened in surprise as she toppled down landing atop Cat Noir heavily, the pair grunted, there was barely enough room to move at all.

Cat Noir stiffened beneath her and she paused, he felt _exactly_ the same as Adrien, but that made sense you don't go around stopping evil and remain unfit, it just didn't make any sense, even she was kinda toned these days.

Vanilla and fresh bread, how and why does Ladybug smell _exactly_ the same as Marinette, the scent wafted off her hair strongly, he struggled with his own head for a few seconds.

"Cat Noir," She said urgently as she looked down, the Bubbler was lining them up "Get us out of this!"

The boy snapped back into the present, "Cataclysm." He whispered quickly a small black orb appeared in his hand and he crushed it, drawing his fist back he slammed it into the side of the bubble which popped quickly, the pair flattened their hands to their sides as the rocketed towards the ground.

"Tikki," Ladybug whispered quickly, he yoyo spun quickly and a small rag, like a dishcloth floated in front of her, she grabbed it in her hand and tied it around her fist as the Bubbler blew a large red bubble and sent it towards them.

Ladybug cocked her arm back and slammed it forward, the dishrag cur threw the edge and a large plume of smoke blocked everyone's vision, well everyone accept Cat Noir's, He caught Ladybugs arm and drew her around to him as the landed softly, he let her go when she pushed off of him and they both darted to the right, they were close enough together that she could see him as the circled the Bubbler.

The villain lifted his weapon into the air triumphantly and Cat Noir dashed out of the cloud of smoke, he spun quickly and brought his staff across, taking out the Bubblers ankle while he was still surprised as the yoyo flew from the smoke and yanked the bubble blower from the villains grasp.

Ladybug stomped on the weapon harshly, the small black butterfly escaped it quickly and she drew a quick line over her yoyo, it snapped open with a light purple glow as she spun it and swung it forward, catching the small butterfly in the circle.

"Bye bye little butterfly." She waved simply as the now cleansed Akuma flew away.

The smoke still hung thickly around them as she moved to leave someone grabbed her arm, she turned to see Cat Noir looking at her urgently "Do we really need to keep our identities secret between us?" He asked flatly, the urgency in his tone didn't pass her.

She looked at his arm on her wrist and paused for the briefest of moments "I…think we should for now." She sounded as she pulled her arm away and disappeared.

Cat Noir's suit flickered off of him and he looked at Ladybugs back as she moved over rooftops and away from him, what did he expect? Of course I'll break out original promise and show you who I am?! What would he even do with the information? What if it really was Marinette though?! He could be so painfully close to the girl he loves and he doesn't even know.

He raked a hand through his hair in irritation and sighed "But what if she isn't Marinette?" Plagg asked simply

Adrien paused, what if she wasn't? Would Marinette suddenly stop making him react this way? Was it _only_ the similarities between Ladybug and Marinette that caused his reactions? He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to find that out.

* * *

Marinette landed on her terrace deftly as the suit disappeared, Cat Noir had never asked that before, they had a promise, they wouldn't reveal their real identities to each other, it was the best way to ensure each other's safety, but in that moment his voice had sounded _so_ much like Adrien's she had hesitated, what would it be like, if Cat Noir and Adrien really _were_ the same person, who should she behave around Cat? The possibility existed, that Adrien was Cat Noir and the possibility existed that he wasn't.

But the way he react to her touch, the way he smelled, it brought Adrien right to the forefront of her mind she ran a hand through her hair.

"I should be nicer to Cat Noir." She mumbled quietly, mostly to herself.

Tikki just giggled.

* * *

 **A/N: Dun, Dun, Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuun! I know right, JUST KISS ALREADY YOU LITTLE HORNDOGS** , **well, not quite but you probably want a bit more fluff, maybe, I don't know your fetishes, I don't judge, I want to write more fluff though, so you'll prolly see some in the next chapter, I hope you enjoyed this chapter though, I'll put my replies here!**

 **Princess Crimson: AHHH! (Had no idea how to respond, so figure the same thing a little louder and imagine like a slightly upturned head, like Ah, I see how it is. mmhmm.)**

 **I'm Monster the Girl: Yes, it was a HTTYD reference, I am a HTTYD writer after all, well before I started this and I always felt like the characters would be** _ **way**_ **more sarcastic if it weren't a kids show, I mean Ladybugs got all the physical traits of sarcasm down, with the eye rolls and gestures, I think it suits, if only the lines reflected it. I put another reference in this chapter, wonder how many people will find it!**

 **ShadowSpirit020: Man, you are on all my stories?! You read way to much fan fiction (Not really, one can never read too much that was a heinous heresy I apologize.)**

 **NitenGale: Again, Thanks for running me over the Shorthand's, it helped, I plan to cover most if not all of the episodes, but I will be changing the order around, but yeah, there will be development of every pairing (Even though they are the same pairing) Is there like a global one, LadyetteNoirien? Yeah, let's go with that.**

 **annabelmolloy: Well, yeah, it's going to be all of them, so it'll have moments between every all of the shorthand's, but I'd say Adrienette would be the primary one sense they spend the most time in my story as their human selves.**

 **Guest 1: Glad your enjoying it!**

 **TVDFan245: I plan to, hopefully life lays off doing life things for a few more days so I can write without worry!**

 **Guest 2: There will be plenty more chapters, so I hope you continue to enjoy them!**

 **Ah, that's everything, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will see you guys next time, peace!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello all! I've come to the conclusion that even if I dropped the pace of the romance considerably that I'm actually not going to be able to do all the eps unless I completely abandon my original story plan, which I'm not going to do, so that puts this story at about six chapters so there's only four more to go! I know it's not that many, but hopefully the length of the chapters will redeem it and I do have another Miraculous fiction in the works, which I will work on getting up at some point soon! Without further ado, onto the chapter!**

* * *

Marinette flicked her pen, it rolled to the top of her desk before gravity pulled it back down and she repeated the action, the last hour of school always dragged, it didn't help it was physics, from her position slumped on the desk she could see a few of her classmates keeping themselves occupied in their own ways.

Her eyes met the turquoise of the boy across from her, he started and dropped his down, quickly busying himself with a drawing, he was a little shorter than Adrien, messy red orange hair, his grey dress jacket was slightly to large for him and his sleeves were rolled up.

Nathanael had never concerned her, of course, that is until she saw that reaction, she was an expert at surprised starts and averted gazes.

Her eyes flicked over to the back of Adrien's head, she had to shake the image of cat ears in his messy blonde hair as she let out an airy sigh, Adrien shifted around and flashed her a grin and a wave which she returned quickly, managed to avoid any embarrassment with her Adrien is Cat Noir technique, of course that meant she was seeing the stupid ears again.

She sighed and leaned back, taking a few more notes as the teacher rounded to room, clearly unimpressed with the class and hoping to catch someone out just to exert the minimal amount of power she had, well maybe that was a little extreme but it was sort of true. In a way.

"Nathanael!" Marinette stifled a groan as she peered over the room carefully, the boy started up in surprise.

"Sorry miss!" He exclaimed quickly

Ms. Mendeleiev snatched the drawing from the boys hand quickly and peered at her through her glasses, apparently she had enough of a heart to not out the boy in the centre of class "Perhaps these drawings are the exact reason you are failing my classes."

"I'm sorry." Nathanael bowed his head quickly.

"Take this chicken scratch to the principal's office," The teacher commanded simply as she walked to the front of the class "See what he thinks of them."

Nathanael nodded his head and gathered the drawings quickly, as he moved down the steps his leg caught a bag and he toppled forward, a few of the drawings spewed into the air, on landed on Chloe's desk, another on Adrien's.

Adrien glanced at the drawing and lifted it, the girl was Marinette, that much was obvious, she was leaning against the chest of a boy, Nathanael himself, Adrien presumed, she had a giddy smile on her face and a look in her eyes that could only be described as loving, his stomach twisted and his face contorted into a displeased scowl as he crushed the drawing in his hand.

Chloe's reaction was much more, gaudy, she grabbed the drawing and looked at it for a moment before jumping out of her seat and laughing "Oh, drawing yourself as a superhero? And who's this, hah! Marinette!" Chloe laughed as she dangled the drawing in front of Nathanael's face, he snatched at it but she pulled it back out of his grasp and he glared at her.

"No, you two suit each other, quiet clumsy _boring_ Marinette and equally as dull Nathanael!" Chloe laughed

"Return to your seat and be quiet!" Ms Mendeleiev snapped, Nathanael glanced around, eyes falling on Marinette, she tilted her head and him and grimaced slightly, he snatched the drawing from Chloe's hands before darting into the hallway.

The bell rang and surprisingly Adrien was the first in front of Chloe, scowl still planted on his face as he glared down at the blonde "What's your deal Chloe?"

"Excuse me?" Chloe questioned simply

Adrien ran a hand over his face in irritation "What's with outing Nathanael like that? Or targeting Marinette?!"

"What? You don't have to defend either of them-" Chloe cut of as Adrien spoke.

"Don't have to? Your right, I _want_ to, they are my," Adrien paused for the slightest moment and glanced at Marinette "Friends, I may not speak to Nathanael that much but I know he's a talented artist, Marinette is a _great_ designer, I don't even know if _you_ could tie your own shoes yourself."

Chloe's mouth hung open in surprise as Nino gave Adrien a light tap and the blonde spun on his heel and stalked off, Marinette glanced at Alya, who was giving her a look and she groaned. This would require explanation, but she had literally no idea why Adrien had suddenly jumped to her defense, not that she was complaining, angry Adrien was a whole new set of facial expressions she now had neatly filed away in her head. But she still didn't have an explanation.

* * *

Adrien got to his locker and took a deep breath trying to calm himself, how dare Chloe talking about _his_ Marinette like that, Nathanael certainly had no right to draw _her_ like that either, her raked a hand through his hair and finally paused.

"My Marinette?" He audibly questioned on confusion, he'd have quite a difficult time convincing himself that didn't sound right coming out of his mouth.

No, I'm just tired and high strung, too many late nights and Akuma attacks recently, I need to take it easy for a few days, maybe Hawkmoth would be polite and give him a day off.

"Yeah, I'm also the queen of England and own all the mining rights to Neptune." Plagg had floated from Adrien's bag at some point while the boy was thinking, Adrien stared at the Kwami blankly.

Plagg moved his eyebrows in a suggestive manor before speaking "So, _your_ Marinette huh? Being drawn by other guys and insulted by Chloe, how dare they talk about _your_ Marinette like that huh?"

Adrien progressively grew to mimic the shade of red Ladybugs suit, Plagg would never, ever, in his entire life let Adrien live down that line, he also wouldn't ever let him forget it.

"Shut up." Adrien let out in embarrassment.

"Jealousy is such a bad looking emotion," Plagg continued to tease "But what are you gonna do, they were talking about _your_ Marinette."

Adrien grabbed the small car Kwami and shoved it into his bag, not before giving Plagg a strong squeeze, the Kwami groaned and squeaked as he was once again confined to the bag.

* * *

Marinette leaned against her locker calmly, watching students move around slowly, Chloe confidently striding along caught her eye, until a small spider descended towards the top of her head and nestled itself in her hair, Chloe let out a high pitched squeal and shook her head wildly, Marinette's eyes widened as the spider seemed to simply vanish in a few lines of blue, like it had simply been erased.

Marinette's eyes trailed over the small trail of blue pixels to see a boy crouched on the second floor, wicked smile on his face as he pressed his pen to a drawing tablet, the boys skin was light purple, a black butterfly mask covered his face, his orange red hair was pulled back beneath a black beret.

Marinette looked around quickly, students were still everywhere, no way to transform without being scene, so she did the only logical thing a teenage girl could do.

Scream and point, scream _hysterically_ and point. The student's heads darted to the boy, who seemed too distracted to notice it was Marinette that was screaming, there was a moment of silence, in which a pin dropping would have been heard before the students darted for every nearest exit.

* * *

Adrien had turned around when he heard Chloe's scream, at Marinette's he had already spotted the corrupted victim and had darted into the men's room.

"Plagg," Adrien opened his bag and paused when the cat gave him a blank look "What?"

"I'm not transforming you till you admit you got the hots for Marinette." The small black cat said bluntly.

"Somehow I don't think that's how this works," Adrien gave a wry grin "Let's go."

Plagg made a sound of discomfort as he was pulled into the ring quickly, Adrien rolled his neck as his ears appeared and his senses sharpened, he strode towards the door as his suit materialized and he ran his hand over his face as he dived into a quick roll, falling behind a set of lockers and glancing around the corner, Chloe was being chased around by a large hairdryer.

He was really attempted to just let this scene play out, sit back, maybe grab a bite to eat, let Hawkmoth do his thing, he was after the miraculous right? So if Cat Noir just never showed up, there wasn't actually all that much Hawkmoth could do.

Of course when he saw Ladybug's yoyo he quickly changed his mind, leaping to action with a spin of his staff he brought it down on the oversized electronic hard, the thing shattered.

"I got a tip you were dealing with a _hairy_ situation." Oh, that was bad, even he knew that was bad, but the eye roll and the slightest ghost of a smile on Ladybugs face made it worth it as he cracked a wide grin.

They vaulted to the second floor and charged the villain, who quickly penciled something onto his tablet and a thick pane of glass appeared in front of them, Cat Noir took a quick step forward and spun his staff before bringing it down, the glass shattered and Ladybug used the back of Cat's head as a springboard, leaping off the top of him and landing in the villains path.

The villain merely grinned a moment before drawing something else "You'll have to excuse me, I've got somewhere I need to be."

Cat Noir lifted an eyebrow as the villain leapt through one of the windows on the roof, Ladybug jumped after him, but the villain was a second faster, a thick metal plate appeared over the window and Ladybug curled in slightly as she slammed into it, Cat vaulted the rail and darted atop the lockers, he dove and caught Ladybug and flipped over as he cradled her to his chest, he slid to a quick and shot a glare at the boy on the roof.

Marinette froze for a moment, she was once against surrounded by that scent of detergent, cologne and something she could only describe as Adrien, Cat Noir…whatever.

She took a quick inhale and pushed back, finding it a little more difficult to put the mask of indifference on her face when those bright green eyes turned a worrying look on her.

She pushed off and got to her feet, her ankle gave out a groan of discomfort and she winced, it would heal quickly, the beauty of superhero magic "It seems like he's after Chloe." She noted simply.

Cat Noir nodded quickly, not trusting his voice as his brain struggled with the feeling of Ladybug being so closely pressed against him, her suit certainly left _nothing_ to the imagination and she still smelt like vanilla and fresh bread, although placing the scent with Marinette's was the furthest thing on his mind as he followed after his lady.

* * *

"The Evillustrator was clearly targeting you." Cat Noir explained to Chloe calmly

"Evillustrator?" Ladybug asked in confusion.

"That's what I named him, don't worry I won't get attached and want to keep him or anything," Cat Noir waved off "Can you think of any reason why he'd be after you?"

"Ugh, no, everyone adores me." Chloe responded, she had to be joking, Cat Noir hoped she was joking.

Ladybug rolled her eyes as a flash snapped in her eyes, Chloe smiled at her phone happily and Ladybug peered down at her.

"Hey, it's better than her usually." Cat Noir stated plainly.

"Well that's…wait how do you know what she's like normally?" Ladybug asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Cat Noir titled his head and smirked "Oh, is milady curious?"

"A little." Ladybug replied as Chloe pulled her into an odd embrace and snapped another picture.

"My smile is perfect, but yours is all wonky," Ladybug glared at the blonde girl in irritation "Let's do another one!"

Ladybug stared at the camera phone with a raised eyebrow and blank expression, as Chloe pulled away Ladybug moved to the balcony and pushed the door open.

"Where are you going?" Cat Noir asked

"I have a pretty good idea who the 'Evillustrator' is, I'm going to go see if I can get an angle." Ladybug explained simply.

"Okay, but what about that," Cat Noir pointed at Chloe with a thumb and glanced over his shoulder, an almost undetectable shudder racking his body "You can't leave me alone with… _that_."

"Sorry alley cat, Later." Ladybug gave him a quick three fingered salute and flashed a grin as she swung away, leaving Cat Noir on the rooftop with a displeased scowl marring his features.

* * *

Marinette plopped into her computer chair with a thud and quickly busied herself, Tikki hovered over the top of the monitor, eying her human in curiosity.

"I think the Evillustrator is Nathanael," Marinette explained "I have a feeling he's going to come see me."

"Oh yes, assuming that every person with a crush is as oddly obsessive as you." Tikki drawled with an eye roll.

"Sh." Marinette sounded quickly when her window erased and the boy from before rolled into the room and glanced around.

Marinette jumped in surprise and stared at the boy in wide eyed surprise.

"Sorry!" He exclaimed quickly "Didn't mean to startle you."

"Uh." Marinette sounded slowly.

"Oh, um, Marinette it's me, Nathanael," The boy introduced quickly "I, uh, wanted to invite you to my party later."

Marinette paused, so she was right, she resisted the urge to smile in satisfaction as she relaxed "Party?"

"It's my birthday." Evillustrator scratched the back of his neck and looked away nervously.

"Oh, um, yeah, sure I can totally come." Marinette scuffed her shoe against the ground and tried to think like Cat Noir, she flashed a small grin.

Nathanael nodded his head gratefully and moved to leave before Marinette caught his arm "I do have a request to make."

"Anything!" Nathanael exclaimed eagerly

"You can't hurt Chloe anymore, I simply detest violence." Marinette turned her head away and looked down, pushing her lip out in a small pout.

Cat Noir has charm, hah! I can just imagine that kitty's face if he saw this! Marinette thought to herself in slight satisfaction when Nathanael's eyes widened and he bowed his head "For you my dear, of course."

Then he jumped out the window, leaving a small card to land at her feet, she looked down at it, the meeting place and time were written next to a drawing of her face.

* * *

Cat Noir kicked his legs forward boredly as he looked over the city, the view from where he was actually quite extravagant, not that he cared for the view much when his staff buzzed "You can leave Chloe, Evillustrator's not after her anymore, instead I need you to protect this girl."

Cat Noir pulled his staff away from his ear and his breath caught in his throat.

"Her name's Marinette, the Evillustrator's got a thing for her and she agreed to go on a date with him in return for Chloe's safety." Ladybugs voice explained quickly "She's pretty cute huh?"

"Yeah," Cat sighed airily before catching himself "Where am I going?"

"The love bank, next to Norte-Dame at sunset." Ladybugs voice relayed quickly.

"Got it." Cat Noir nodded and jumped to his feet and leaping off the hotel balcony.

* * *

Marinette stared at the small beeping compact, her cheeks dusted a dark red as the call ended, there was definitely something in Cat's voice, the oh so familiar sigh he only used when he was talking to Ladybug. After a small amount of thought she thought it made sense, Ladybug was her, they quite literally were the same person

Birds fly, sun shines, Cat Noir likes her in either form. The revelation was a small ego boost and the warmth in her chest refused to be denied as she checked her hair in the mirror, straightening a few strands as she took a long breath.

Marinette glanced around as she stepped onto the curb, expecting Cat Noir to show up to boast in a few seconds, in fact she could almost predict some kind of pun, he hadn't used one surrounding claws in awhile.

"Hey there," Marinette started when a pair of green eyes dropped in front of her, she glanced up, he was hanging from the street light about her with a grin on his face "I heard you were going on a little secret rendezvous, I've been told to keep you out of evil claws."

Claws, she knew it, she rolled her eyes and watched the cat in amusement, he seemed very pleased with himself as he flipped around and landed with a light thud.

"Oh right, I haven't introduced myself yet," He prodded his chest with his thumb "I'm Cat Noir."

"Oh, I know, you're kind of a big deal you know?" Marinette gestured to a TV in the window of a store playing an old news report.

"Right," Cat Noir nodded "Well, I've been assigned to keep you safe on your little date." Cat pointedly ignored the rising irritation in his chest as he spoke.

"What about Ladybug aren't you guys a duo?" Marinette lifted an eyebrow.

Cat sighed slightly "Yeah, well she's got something to do I guess, apparently she doesn't trust me as much as I thought."

Marinette winced "There's no way that's true, she trusts you enough to think you can handle protecting little old me all on your own, I'm sure she has some kind of plan and she'll charge in last minute like heroes do!"

Cat Noir's face split into a wide grin "Well you certainly have a way with words Princess."

Marinette frowned after a moment "Wait, Cat?"

"Hm?" He hummed as he moved to leave.

"How do you know where I live?" Marinette asked, she had run over the information she had given him in her head a few times, but she never told him where she herself actually lived.

"Let's just say I'm a classmate of yours princess." Cat Noir winked at her suggestively and jumped off.

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise as she watched the boys back retreat from her, he was in her class, Cat Noir was in her class! Adrien's face hung in her memory for a few seconds too long, she pushed the image away and glanced at her phone, her eyes widened at the time and she darted around the corner.

* * *

She arrived at the location for the date shortly after and stopped, taking a few moments to collect her breath she stepped forwards slowly "Nathanael?"

The boys head jerked up and he glanced at her a small smile opening up on his face "Marinette," He said slowly gesturing to a seat beside him "You look lovely."

"Thanks," Marinette smiled kindly "Your very sweet."

* * *

Cat's eyes narrowed from his perch atop the rooftops overlooking the bank, Marinette sat down beside Nathanael calmly as he began drawing, lights, a small version of the Eiffel tower, some bushes and a number of other things. Cat Noir moved across the rooftops slowly, keeping low and out of sight, only his bright green eyes occasionally appearing over the top of the rooftops against the black backdrop of the clouded night sky.

* * *

Marinette glanced around, finally spotting Cat Noir as he leapt from building to another, Nathanael got to his feet beside her and she started, thinking of a way to draw his attention away from Cat if he'd seen him.

He wasn't looking at Cat Noir, he was giving the moon a specifically angry glare as he leaned towards one of the smaller lamps he had drawn earlier "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I just can't draw well in the dark."

He drew a circle and a ball of light appeared on the small Eiffel tower, he drew small sound system beside her and walked over and hit play, he slid his pen into his sleeve and gave her a grin "A dance milady?"

The name sounded so foreign to her coming from someone else lips, in someone else's voice she almost flat out refused, but they had a job to do as she got to her feet with a smile and took the boys hand.

He relaxed in relief as she moved towards him and his hand fell on her waist as she put one hand on his shoulder the other still clasping his hand as they rocked slowly back and forth.

Cat slid down the side of the building and launched from it, staff snapping out, Marinette's eyes widened as she was pushed away and Nathanael dodged out of the way and flourished his pen.

"Sorry bud, I'm crashing this party." Cat's voice was constricted with barely contained anger, his eyes were narrowed into dangerous slits and his staff was in half allowing him to wield a second in each hand, his shoulders shifted with every breath, his ears twitched and the two boys watched each other closely.

"You know what they say, the pen is mightier than the sword!" Nathanael exclaimed with a smile.

"Is it?" Cat straightened out slightly as he slid his foot forward a half grin appeared on his face "Wanna bet?" He asked almost threateningly as he darted forward.

Nathanael's eyes widened as he ducked, Cat's staff flying over his head by a few inches as he whirled around, the other half snapping up, Nathanael jumped back and Cat smirked as he moved forward, pressing the artist further and further back on the boat, Nathanael created a small amount of space and flicked his pen forward a small disc appeared in front of him and flew forward, Cat cut up with his staff and the disc shattered.

Nathanael threw a few more as he backpedaled he threw a much larger disc towards him and Cat jumped flipping over it, he realized his mistake a moment too late as the saw like disc sped towards Marinette, who was standing a the other of the boat, Cat flipped up and speared his staff down, catching the centre of the disc, it spun to the ground inches from Marinette's face and Cat landed with a light thud.

The Evillustrator either didn't notice Marinette or no longer cared, Cat rolled his neck, the thing gave off a few pops as he launched forward, Nathanael smirked as a box of glass appeared in front of Cat who ran into it, but didn't slow as he cocked his hand back.

"Cataclysm." He practically growled as a small ball of black appeared in his hand and he slammed it forward, the glass shattered and shot towards Nathanael who was forced to cover his eyes as small shards of glass moved towards him.

Cat flipped over him and battered the pen towards where Marinette was standing, only Marinette had taken the time while the two boys were fighting to get off the boat and quickly transform, she landed on the boat with a light thud and picked up the pen, she snapped it quickly and watched the small black butterfly ascend into the air, she drew a quick line and her yoyo snapped open, she spun it around her body for a moment and caught the butterfly before it could get away.

She waited a moment and the now cleansed Akuma fluttered away.

Cat rolled his shoulder calmly as Nathanael reverted back to normal, Cat's mouth pulled back into a scowl before he felt something wrap around his back gently, he stiffened slightly as he glanced around, Ladybug eyed him with a gentle smile on her face "Calm down, kitty you got him."

Cat smiled "Of course milady, I take it you already rescued Marinette?"

"Is that concern I hear Cat?" Ladybug teased as she stepped away from him, she noticed the small feeling of numbness as she did so, like she really wanted to stay in the embrace a little longer.

"Yeah it is," Cat stated flatly "She was inches away from a corrupted Akuma, of course I'm concerned for her."

Ladybug ignored the swell in her chest a the words and just smiled "She's fine Cat."

He relaxed visibly and cracked a grin "Of course she was, with a Cat like me around she was purrfectly pawtected." He titled his head to the side as he extended his thumb towards himself.

Ladybug really tried not to laugh, a quick giggle escaped her lips as Cat Noir's ring let out a piercing beep he glanced down at it and smirked "And that's my queue to leave."

"Seeya alley Cat." Ladybug waved as he leapt over the bank and gave her a quick wave before disappearing over the rooftops.

* * *

Marinette plopped down onto her bed heavily, she frowned, going over Cat's behavior that night, he was more aggressive than usual towards Nathanael, he seemed really mad. She supposed it wasn't all that odd, even Cat Noir could have a rough day, maybe he was just tired. She nodded, trying to forget that he smelt the same as Adrien and how good it felt to wrap her arms around his chest.

A quiet tap at her window got her to sit up, she walked over slowly and cracked it open, Cat Noir swung into her room with a grin "Hey there Princess." He greeted as he fell onto her desk chair and swung around in a slow circle.

"Cat Noir? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be res-" She cut off, if she told him she knew about the timer it might arouse suspicion "Did you beat the bad guy?" She asked with a smile.

"Of course we did, Ladybug and me are invincible!" Cat Noir boasted with a chuckle as he picked up a picture of Adrien from her wall, the one that was right next to the picture of him.

He got to his feet and walked over to her, his face loomed over hers and his green eyes twinkled in amusement as he spoke "So, you think me and Adrien are connected somehow?"

Marinette had never felt her throat so dry in her entire life "M-Maybe." She squeaked out.

"Hm?" He hummed as his eyebrow lifted.

"You do look kinda the same, you've both got the green eyes your both really fit, the messy godlike blonde bed hair and the way you both smell are really-" She cut off when Cat Noir leaned forward ever so slightly, catching her lips between his.

Marinette took a few seconds to fully register what was happening, when she finally did her brain decided to shut down, her cheeks felt like they were on fire as her hands curled into small fists and rested on his chest, she tilted her head back, he was intoxication, his smell, his taste. His arms moved around her back slowly and then it was over and he pulled back.

He puffed a little bit, grin taking away from the slight red in his cheeks as he cocked his head at the slightly hooded gaze in Marinette's eyes "I'm glad you're okay, princess." He whispered quickly as he darted out of her window into the night.

Marinette's brain finally caught up to the rest of her.

She'd kissed Cat Noir, her fist kiss was Cat Noir and she wanted to kiss him again. Her heartbeat frantically against her chest in an attempt to escape her ribcage as her fingertips brushed over her slightly puffy lips.

She had kissed Cat Noir and she had _really_ liked it.

* * *

Adrien fell on his bed heavily, his hand ghosted over his mouth and his cheeks colored, he hadn't intended for it to go like that at all. He didn't even really think about going into her room, but when he'd seen the picture of himself and well technically himself pinned to her wall, he had wanted to tease her, he had misjudged just how overpowering her scent was on his highly sensitive nose.

He had confirm something he had wondered when he had first learned what she smelt like, she _definitely_ tasted like vanilla and so much more.

Adrien had kissed Marinette, well Cat Noir had kissed Marinette and both of them _really_ liked it.

* * *

 **A/N: Snap, crack, pop! Heh, how many of you expected a kiss this soon? I hope that numbers low, this is going to move into my closing arc for this fiction, I know, it's going to be over so soon! What cruel twist of the universe is this! Woe is me. But I have another Miraculous fiction almost entirely planned out! So look forward to that!**

 **I'm sorry this took a few days to get, you ever felt like life threw a lot of stuff at you but in reality it was only like 4 things? Yeah, that happened to me, I had to pull all these extra shifts, I got definitively and fabulously rejected by my two month crush, found out I'm going to be an uncle** _ **AND**_ **since and I quote "You're probably the most reliable of all us siblings, so I'm making you the godfather." Was my younger brother's text, I'd hope I'm the most reliable, I'm the oldest, jeez.**

 **Replies!**

 **nerwenadanedhel: I'm glad you are enjoying it so far!**

 **TVDFan245: The Next chapter is going to be heavier on the Ladrien, it will vary slightly from the cannon version of the episode (I'm doing a little altercation.) But it's going to be primarily Ladrien and LadyNoir, so prepare thyself!**

 **NitenGale: Glad to see I'm getting the desired reactions, I really wanted this to be kind of a 'OMG JUST KISS ALREADY' kind of lead-up, hope the pacing is still fine :D**

 **ShadowSpirit020: Well, writing helps me distress from life, so I'll be sure to keep updating for your stress relief purposes :P (You slave driver XD)**

 **foxchick1: Another update? Implying I don't update enough huh? Will you ever be sated?! (I am kidding, hope that got across :P) Glad you are enjoying.**

 **And I'll see all of you guys, in the next one, peace!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: SALUTATIONS! Great, now that I've got your attention, I'd like to inform you all of the update schedule for this fiction and the proceeding fiction after, I plan to slap the 'complete' sticker on this story by Saturday (My time, so like a chapter for the next 2 days not including this one and we are done.) And get the new Miraculous fiction out by Sunday, you might be thinking that's a lot of writing but I already have the next chapter almost completely done some minor editing and a few sequence tweaks leading into the final conclusion!**

 **And so, without further ado onto the chapter!**

* * *

Adrien paced around his room, his eyebrows pulled down into a sharp frown "What the hell am I doing?" He demanded audibly, he kissed Marinette he had initiated it completely, she hadn't seemed against the idea, she _did_ kiss him back, but he had Ladybug, even if Marinette and Ladybug shared a lot of similarities, wasn't this just a blatant betrayal on his part?

"You need to calm down," Plagg floated in front of the blonde and gave him a serious look, that in itself caused Adrien to stop and stare at his Kwami for a second "Look, a lot of things happened yesterday, whilst you have no definitive evidence that Marinette is Ladybug, you also don't have any proof that she _isn't_ , if you kissed Ladybug in her civilian identity that's not a betrayal is it?"

Adrien rocked slightly as he thought, would that count? Technically they were the same person, but that would mean he would have to believe without a shadow of a doubt that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person, it felt like he was taking an easy way out to avoid the problem "No, I won't do that, let's just say on the off change your right and I got unimaginably lucky and I just happened to fall for the same girl twice, I didn't know. I'm not going to run away from this."

"This is why I shouldn't give you advice," Plagg exclaimed throwing his hands in the air "If you had all that figured out what was the point of all that pacing? Distracting me from my cheese, _shame_ on you."

Adrien waited a few more seconds whilst Plagg's mind processed all the information he received "HEY! You finally admitted to falling for Marinette good for you, I was afraid I'd have to beat you with a stick."

"How would that help me?" Adrien asked in confusion

"I wouldn't," Plagg replied bluntly "It would help me, relief some stress and irritation using your overly pretty head."

Adrien just shot a half hearted glare.

* * *

Marinette was having much the same discussion with Tikki only slightly different.

"Tikki, I never thought I'd see the day I became a player, what do I do? I _liked_ kissing Cat Noir, it was like he completely overlapped with Adrien in that moment, wait, that sounds like I thought I was kissing Adrien, I _knew_ it was Cat Noir and I _still_ liked it what's wrong with me?!" Marinette rambled in rapid panic as she paced around her room, throwing her arms around in front of her.

"I think you are over thinking this a little too much," Tikki answered from her perch on Marinette's computer "Imagine how Cat Noir's feeling right about now? He's probably tearing himself up thinking about how much he betrayed you by kissing…well _you_."

"Oh," Marinette froze, her eyes widened and she paled slightly "Your right Tikki, Cat Noir doesn't know he kissed me, but can I really just reveal it? Just like that?"

"I think it would be a good idea," Tikki nodded "I don't know why you've kept it from each other this whole time anyway."

"It was just a promise, we wanted to keep each other's personal lives separate from each other…No, I think we should keep that promise," Marinette stared at her feet silently "It was one of the first things we did when we became Cat Noir and Ladybug the duo, I can't break that over this."

Tikki rolled her eyes "So, you're just going to leave it at that? Let Cat Noir torture himself over it?"

"No, I'm simply going to tell him that it was a heat of the moment thing, teenage hormones, stressful situations," Marinette explained "It's not untrue and later I'll tell him, as Ladybug, that it's okay and that I understand."

"How is this better?" Tikki titled her head to the side as she asked

"Look, as much as I enjoyed kissing Cat Noir, I won't lie it was quite amazing, I don't like him like that, I still like Adrien." Marinette sighed calmly

Marinette's phone rang in her pocket and she started looking down at it in confusion, there wasn't school today, why was her alarm blaring at her? She glanced down at her phone, the small notification floated in front of her eyes before completely registering.

The statue, she had promised to be at the big unveiling, well as least she was close to the park, she glanced out the window calmly at the covered statue and shrugged.

"Looks like Ladybug needs to make an appearance Tikki, let's go." Marinette smirked as Tikki flew into her earrings, Marinette pushed the trap door of her home and stood on her roof whilst the suit finished appearing around her and ran her fingers over her eyes, the mask settled quickly and she jumped into the air, pulling herself around the street and landing on the statue's base with a light thud and a smile as the crowd erupted into cheering.

Ladybug dropped down beside the creator, she was an older woman, early thirties from her face, black rimmed reading glassed hung over her eyes, her hair was pulled back into a neat bun and she wore a business suit and skirt with a red scarf, her eyes were brown and her hair was black, she smiled kindly at Ladybug.

"It's an honor to have a statue of Cat Noir and myself in this park." Ladybug inclined her head as she shook the woman's hand.

The sculptor smiled "Can we expect the handsome tom-cat to make an appearance?"

Ladybug's smile waned slightly, there was something about the way the woman spoke, the glint in her eyes and the excited dart about her eyes did as she said it.

"I'm not sure, cat's are known to be quite lazy, he might not show up at all." Ladybug replied with a shrug.

"Isn't her your partner?" The woman questioned "Sounds like you don't like him very much."

"I have complete faith in his ability, it's his punctuality in question," Ladybug chuckled, before she smiled at the woman, a small fire lighting in her chest as she spoke again "You are correct though, he is _mine._ "

The woman looked taken aback as she moved to stand beside the mayor, casting occasional glances towards Ladybug.

Marinette's eyes widened as she stepped around behind the statue, she ran her fingers through her hair, Cat Noir was _hers?_ When did that start, what happened to heat of the moment, doesn't matter?! If he got wind of that he'd never let her live it down, she pulled out her compact quickly, she just needed to make sure he didn't talk to the maker of the statue, easy enough.

 _I've got the statue situation under control, I need you to keep an eye out for Akuma's, I have a bad feeling._

Perfect, give him an important job somewhere else, something to keep him away from _that_ woman, she stepped around the corner and threw a sickeningly sweet grin in the older woman's direction as her compact rang on her waist, she glanced at it.

 _Understood, I'll keep an eye out._

Ladybug released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as the mayor stepped up to the podium to begin his speech.

* * *

Adrien frowned at the message from Ladybug, that was a statue for both of them, but she wasn't wrong, watching for Akuma's was much more important than smiling in front of camera's he did that _more_ than enough as is, but he still wanted to at least _see_ his statue, so Adrien Agreste would be attending the unveiling, the beauty of being rich and having someone who would drive you around.

He arrived as the mayor finished his speech, from the look on Ladybug's face it had been long and likely full of colorful words to make the mayor look better in the public eye, the election was coming soon, this commissioned statue was just as likely another political publicity stunt.

Adrien paused at the back of the crowd, his height allowing him to see over the top of most of the people there, when a specifically large gentlemen stepped in front of him he dodged forward, stepping towards the front of the crowd, eventually finding himself leaning against a tree to the left of the crowd, giving him a good view of Ladybug, the statue and everyone present.

Ladybug glanced at a tree to her left when she spotted a quick movement, her heart beat against her chest as Adrien smiled at her, sending her a little wave, which she returned as stealthily as she could.

She didn't catch the artists glare, Adrien however, did, he frowned he couldn't determine any reason people would dislike Ladybug.

The cloth was removed from the statue, the wide piece of grey obscured his vision of the artist for a moment, there were gasps, cheers and then a loud cackle.

Then there were two Ladybugs, the pair stared at each other, one's face twisted into surprise whilst the other just grinned widely.

"HOW DARE YOU PRETEND TO BE ME, YOU IMPOSTER!" The collective audience gasped and the surprised Ladybug's face twisted into first realization before irritation.

"I'm the _real_ Ladybug." The Ladybug that spoke crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow, Adrien moved forward quickly.

"How are you going to prove that?" The second Ladybug exclaimed quickly.

The Ladybugs shifted slightly and their yoyo's spun, Adrien lowered slightly and broke into his fastest sprint as the two threw their weapons at each other, he slid in front of Ladybug that had been closest to him and kicked the yoyo into the air, he winced when the thing hit him but otherwise seemed unharmed.

The Ladybug in front of him eyes widened and his head whipped around, both of them had reacted the same way, the Ladybug opposite him smirked "I knew it, you and Cat Noir aren't together at all." She strode forward.

Adrien's head spun slightly, Ladybug had said they were together, when?

The Ladybug ran her fingers along Adrien's arm slowly and he shivered slightly, it was the exact same look, he couldn't tell who was the fake at all, how was he supposed to even know?

The Ladybug behind him stepped forward and battered the others hand away "Don't touch him." She ordered, practically a hiss escaping her mouth.

"Oh, isn't this a story? Adrien Agreste and Ladybug, does the famous model know whose under the mask?!"

The crowd of reporters ran forward, each spewing questions towards them, Adrien glanced behind him "You need to get out of here, I'll keep these guys at bay."

The Ladybug nodded to him gratefully as she threw her yoyo and zipped away, leaving Adrien to placate the reporters on his own, he lifted his hands and let a practiced scowl of indifference fall on his face all of those times his father had lectured him finally coming in handy as he spoke flatly.

"I know nothing about Ms. Ladybug's identity and even less about this business of us being together," Adrien's voice managed to remain level as he spoke "I saw a fight break out and I moved to stop it, I didn't have any time to think about the participants or any implications, now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

He nodded his head quickly and darted passed them, climbing into the back of his car quickly, the car pull onto the road and rounded a corner, camera flashes following them for a moment.

"Pull over here and head home, I will be along later, a friend of mine lives nearby." Adrien said simply, it was true Marinette lived nearby. Not that he was going to go see her, he just needed to get out of the car to transform, one of these two Ladybugs had to be an Akuma.

* * *

"What the hell!" Marinette exclaimed angrily throwing her hands into the air and running them through her hair "Prissy artist, turning into _me_ when she get's corrupted, putting her hands all over Adrien! Talking about _my_ Cat Noir like that!

She was so frustrated her mind didn't even stutter as she looked around, her clone looked exactly like her, but Adrien had defended _her_ , the right one, she assumed the boy just had ridiculous luck, but why had he defended her, it's not like Adrien and Ladybug spoke often.

She shook her head quickly, pushing the thoughts away, the Akuma being a more important issue. She knew it was the artist that made the statue, so she'd check the woman's workplace first and see if she went there.

She perched on the roof of the large warehouse of the artist, peering down at the wide open area beneath her, her lifted the window slowly and flipped inside, landing with a light thud as she peered around. She walked over to the large desk, plans for the statue, a few notes, a small picture of Cat Noir with a heart drawn around it, she grimaced and let out an uncharacteristic growl as she crushed the picture in her hand.

The sound of wire extending towards her hit her ears and she felt the yoyo wrap around her legs, she rolled her eyes in slight annoyance as she was lifted into the air and left to dangle there for a moment "A trap, why did I not see this coming?"

The mirror Ladybug moved in front of her, a victorious smirk on her face as she swiped Ladybug's compact and opened it, Marinette was surprised the woman could work it properly.

"What seems to be the puurroblem milady?" Cat Noir's voice enquired with a grin.

The fake Ladybug rolled her eyes, but Marinette watched the woman shift her feet in slight excitement as she spoke "I've caught the imposter."

"That was fast, I'm on my way." Cat Noir's face flicked off the compact and the fake Ladybug smirked as she closed it "I think I'll hang onto this, a little reminder that I beat Ladybug and being Ladybug."

"You really think this plan is going to work?" Ladybug asked with a laugh "I've been fighting with Cat for _years_ , looking like me won't get you out of the clear much longer."

"I wouldn't worry about that little Lady," The woman swayed her hips widely as she moved "The allures of a Lady are much better than a _teenagers_ and I know how to use my weapons," The woman gestured to her chest and behind calmly "It's no secret Cat Noirs infatuated with you, do you think he will say no to me? Who looks _exactly_ likes you but thinks only of him?"

Marinette let out another growl, the image of Cat Noir's lips pressed against the woman in front of her made her eyes narrow as she pulled her body up and slammed down, the bar she was wrapped around snapped free she whirled around and landed deftly before charging the imposter, she hopped quickly on a foot and kicked forward sending her compact into the air, she leapt up and caught it in her hand and began spinning it around herself.

* * *

Cat Noir landed in the centre of the room and his head snapped around in surprise "This does not match the definition of caught I remember." He noted calmly

The fake Ladybug darted forward, her arms wrapped around Cat's stomach as she pressed into him and peered at her over his shoulder "She's much stronger than I thought," She stepped back as Cat stiffened and she smiled darkly as she looked at Marinette "I'm glad you came."

Marinette caught her compact in her hand and stepped forward she flew passed Cat in a quick movement and grabbed the fake Ladybug by the scruff of the collar and pivoted before throwing the woman, who slammed through a window.

Marinette turned to the very surprised Cat Noir, she racked her brain for a way to make him believe her, when he just continued to stare at her in wide eyes surprise she rolled her eyes and did the first thing that popped into her mind, she grabbed him by the collar and yanked forward, his lips slammed into hers with a familiar warmth, Cat's eyes widened in surprise but he relented quickly, pressing forward eagerly.

Cat Noir's body heated quickly as his heart slammed against the confines of his chest loudly, the familiar scent, the taste everything completely overpowering him in a few moments of complete bliss then it was over and Ladybug pulled away.

"Milady, I'm sorry." Cat Noir bowed his head quickly

"You have nothing to be sorry for Cat Noir, just stay here for me, she made this _personal_." Marinette stepped forward quickly and vaulted the window sill, the fake Ladybug charged and she rolled forward, taking out the woman's legs so she fell with a loud 'oomph', she flipped around and threw a quick punch at Marinette who back stepped and dodged before lunging forward catching the woman's arm and flipping her over.

The glasses she had been wearing flew into the air and Marinette jumped after them, catching them in her hand she spun them around before quickly snapping them, the small black butterfly flew out of them quickly and Marinette twirled her yoyo quickly, she drew a line over it and it split and opened, the purple circle spun around her and closed around the Akuma, sealing it for a few moments before Marinette opened the compact and watched the small white butterfly take off and she smirked and sighed in relief.

Cat Noir stuck his head out from the window and grinned at her "I never thought I'd see a real cat fight."

Ladybug rolled her eyes "Don't get used to it Alley Cat, I'll leave the rest to you, try to keep yourself under control."

Cat Noir gave her a quick wave and she jumped away, leaving him with a squealing older woman asking for his autograph.

* * *

Marinette sat perched on the roof opposite Adrien's large mansion, Tikki floated next to her, a quick text to Alya who texted Nino had gained her the address, now it was just a matter of wait for Adrien to get home.

Marinette wanted to confirm something and Ladybug was going to hel her do it, she spotted Adrien's car pull up out the front of his home and he ascended the stairs to get inside. Marinette climbed to her feet quickly.

* * *

Adrien plopped down on the bed with a thud, he had kissed Marinette _and_ Ladybug in the short space of two days, well, Cat Noir had, but they were the same person so it was the same thing right?

He felt wrong, like he needed to properly discuss things with Ladybug, but she had kissed _him_ in that warehouse, so did that mean she liked him? Or was that just what she thought was the best way to show him who was the real one?

The familiarity of the kiss was the farthest thing on his mind as he stared at his ceiling, silently willing everything to just order itself in a nice neat line so he could deal with it.

When someone tapped on his window he snapped up abruptly and walked over to it, his eyes widened in surprise as Ladybug gave him a small grin and a wave, he slid his window open quickly, she was dangling upside down from her yoyo, his window being a midway point between the ground and the roof.

She gave him a warm smile "I wanted to thank you personally for your help earlier and tell you that was really brave."

Adrien blushed scarlet "I-I-I, Y-you don't need t-to t-thank me." He was stuttering like a fool, he never stuttered where was his Cat Noir confidence when he needed it?

Oh right, passed out in his bathroom because he ate way too much cheese.

Ladybug giggled into the back of her hand, Marinette secretly singing in joy, she was always the one stuttering and blushing like a fool, turning the tables on Adrien was a whole different experience and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

He seemed to gain some of his confidence and he grinned at her "Don't tell me you were going to do a Spiderman from my roof?"

Ladybug raised an eyebrow a small grin appeared on her face as her hand flew around the back of his head and she pulled, Adrien's eyes widened and his hands caught the window still to steady himself as something warm pressed against his lips, his breath caught in his throat and his mind completely stopped as his heart was sent into another frenzy against his ribs, it was so loud he could have swore Ladybug would hear it.

Ladybug pulled back and flashed him a wink before drawing herself onto his roof and disappearing, Adrien's fingers brushed across his mouth as a giddy excited smile fell on his face, every thought in his head having just disappeared as he fell onto his bed and let out a happy sigh.

* * *

Marinette squealed on her bed and pressed a pillow to her face "WHAT AM I DOING? WHY CAN'T I KEEP MYSELF UNDERCONTROL WOULD IT BE SO HARD JUST TO NOT KISS A GUY!?"

"Marinette, sh!" Tikki warned quickly, pressing a finger over her mouth.

Marinette sent a half hearted glare at the Kwami "What's wrong with me Tikki? I'm just causing myself more problems!"

"You need to take a day to think, get your head and your heart in order!" Tikki ordered, Marinette rolled over onto her stomach and sighed.

Cat Noir kissed Marinette.

Ladybug kissed Cat Noir.

Ladybug kissed Adrien.

Marinette rolled onto her back, technically Cat Noir had kissed someone before she did, even if she happened to be Ladybug this was sort of turnabout and turnabout was fair play.

Right?

* * *

 **A/N:I can't believe this chapter ended up being the shortest, I fully expected this to be the longest but it just didn't work out that way at all, I think a lot of stuff happened all things considered and this sort of fleshes out the rest of the arc that I have planned as we draw towards the conclusion, so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Replies!**

 **TVDFan245: Hey, don't hate on my MariChat! I agonized over the end of that chapter for like 4 hours! Don't you yuck me :P! I warned you all the pairs would spend some time in the spotlight, that being said, I hope you like the Ladrien I supplied you with in this chapter, I am a little sad it ended up being shorter than intended, but such is life!**

 **nerwenadanedhel: Don't Implode! What will I do without your fangirling?! I need at least someone to tell me I can produce solid fangirl/boyable moments! I make puns all the time, even really bad ones, they are purrfectly acceptable, I mean, I could pawbably make way more than I do you know? Your English is quite good, I mean, It's my mother tongue and I can't grammar at all, so your already beating me Milady, thanks for your kind review!**

 **21nagarcia: I'm glad you are enjoying it so far! Hopefully you like this chapter as well!**

 **NitenGale: You can say a lot of things, technically, it's a free review system, you could say I'm a twelve foot tall Velociraptor, not saying you would, but I mean you could, if you wanted to. I'm glad you like what I'm doing with them, I noticed that myself and was like 'why?' just don't do that thing and everything is good, but it is a kids show, so they have to make some kind of tension for the youngins, oh and he or she better be cute, I'm now invested in this Childs wellbeing! (He'll definitely be cute who am I even kidding, the mothers adorable and my younger brother is no potato.) So thanks!**

 **Spektor: I'm glad you enjoyed the kiss, I did put a lot of thought into the end of that chapter, it was the one that would make or break the little arc I was planning out and I decided to go with it, I am hoping with the conclusion all the flow will come together in a big 'Woot' moment? I guess, note entirely sure.**

 **ddrockdoesfanfic: Hah, you wanted the next chapter I give you the next chapter! Hope you enjoy this one too, glad you've enjoyed the rest of the story!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yo! As promised, we are bringing it into chapter 5, the second last chapter of this story, pacing it effectively has been a real uphill battle. But I'm glad people seem to be enjoying it, I don't want to keep you up here for too long, so onto the chapter!**

* * *

Marinette glanced out her window at the sky, dark grey clouds swirled around it, threatening walkers with an imminent downpour, apparently there was going to be lighting and thunder. Marinette hadn't seen Adrien or Cat Noir since she had kissed him the other night, it wasn't that she was _avoiding_ him per say, she had never spoken to him all the much in her civilian or superhero form and no one had been corrupted by an Akuma since she had paid the blonde boy a little visit.

The sky growled at her and she eyed it calmly, she always liked rain, thunderstorms, lightning, all of it. The pelt of rain on her rooftop served to be a calming constant sound, occasionally interrupted by loud claps and brilliant flashes of light, she thought better in the rain and so she sat there, hoping the downpour would start, she really needed to think.

* * *

Adrien was tired, he had had difficulty getting to sleep, too much excitement in a day, Ladybug had kissed him twice, technically. Although he hadn't seen her sense, he had come to two revelations in the past few days, first, Marinette and Ladybug didn't just carry the exact same scent, they _tasted_ the same as well, he had been so caught up in the fact that he was actually kissing her he hadn't noticed at the time, but the familiar warmth and reactions to his touch were the same.

He wasn't allowed to dwell on it and he hadn't found a reason to confront Marinette about it as Cat Noir or as himself, it just seemed like every chance he got to try and talk to her he was needed somewhere else, a photo shoot, something important his father needed him to attend or Nino just wanted to talk and screw around, it wasn't that he didn't like hanging out with Nino, he just had a lot on his plate and the boy wasn't the greatest of mediator of things that Adrien needed to carefully plan.

Adrien stretched slowly upwards, fencing was a welcome reprieve from his own mind, it forced him to focus on the moment, completely immerse himself in his opponent and lose sight of the things around him. His teacher was running a little bit late, but such was life, after the elections had gone so poorly the press had been snooping around much more than would be considered necessary.

Armand D'Argencourt was a tall man, his thin frame was far from weak as it appeared, lean muscle was made apparent by the tightness of his fencing uniform as he glanced at Adrien and smiled kindly "Ah, Mr. Agreste, sorry I'm late."

"It's no problem sir, I've only just arrived." Adrien nodded with a smile, he enjoyed fencing and his teacher was one of the best in the city.

Armand had another trait Adrien liked, he never asked why Adrien had suddenly taking an interest in fencing, the man was eager to teach and Adrien was eager to learn, that was all he needed, they didn't discuss philosophy's or pasts or anything outside of practice, the basic forms, the movements, the motions. Adrien didn't like lying, so being able to practice without doing so made him much more relaxed.

Armand took a stance opposite the blonde and the boy shifted, pushing his shoulders back as he straightened, assuming a standard position, the pair waited for a moment before Adrien darted forward, sword thrusting high, Armand deflected the blade into the air and stepped back before extending into a tight stab, Adrien shifted, pivoting off his back foot and around the blow as he brought his weapon down, Armand back stepped and the two exchanged a few quick blows.

Adrien hopped lightly from foot to foot, keeping on his toes as he moved, he feinted low and shot upwards taking a quick step forward to force his teacher back further, Armand slapped the blow away and his weapon sped towards Adrien's face, the blonde curved back blade sliding over the top of his nose, Adrien was forced back as his teacher tilted his head and took to the offensive.

Adrien blocked but had little time in between the rapid onslaught of attacks to counter, he continued to back away, biding his time as he shifted dodging, blocking and deflecting the blows that were sent at him.

The blonde uttered a silent curse as he wished for his staff, the sword felt unnatural in his hand, irritatingly long and hard to handle as he dodged, he ducked low and brought the weapon around in a wild diagonal slash, Armand was forced to take a step back as the blow rifled towards him, Adrien's eyes narrowed as he took a page out of Cat Noir's book an pressed forward, Armand smirked behind his mask and extended his arms to either side of him.

Adrien realized his mistake a moment too late as he fell for the trap, he moved forward into a quick thrust, but his teacher was faster a quick sidestep and a spin and the older man's training sword was tapping against Adrien's cheek.

Adrien let out a sigh as he removed his mask, he ran a hand through his hair and smiled "You got me." He admitted with a chuckle.

"Darkblade," Armand tapped the weapon and demonstrated the opening of the move he had used a moment ago "A technique developed by my own ancestors."

"It's a cool name." Adrien offered with a grin.

Armand inclined his head "One's greatest enemy is always themselves, lured by the grip of an easy victory and enemy will make mistakes, Darkblade turns those mistakes into a weapon of victory."

Adrien nodded "You don't usually explained your techniques." He added after a moment.

Armand shrugged "Well, you are the only one here, I doubt my secrets will escape very far." Armand tapped the side of his nose and smiled "Besides, you are curious no?"

Adrien nodded, Armand gestured to a chair and Adrien sat down as he sipped at a bottle of water "Who was the Ancestor who created the technique?" Adrien asked.

"A man of the same name created it," Armand nodded "He was a knight who ended up at the top of France, he ruled with an iron fist but was ousted by the rich who paid others to do their dirty work."

"Is that why you ran for mayor?" The two men turned to the new voice in confusion "Revenge for a fallen ancestor during the dark ages? Is it true?" The unfamiliar woman pushed a microphone towards Armand eagerly as the man frowned.

"No, nothing like that, I thought I could be a benefit to Paris, the public thought otherwise, I hold no ill will towards Mayor Bourgeois in the election, even if the difference was frustrating." Armand answered flatly.

* * *

Adrien got to his feet with a sigh and made his way towards the bathroom, his teacher was getting more and more frustrated as the reporter continued to question him about the election.

Adrien inspected his appearance in the mirror, the dark bags around his eyes weren't as noticeable as they had been that morning, he felt a little bit less sluggish, now that reporter just had to leave so he could get back to practice and everything would improve, he was sure of it, he left the room and walked back into the main yard.

* * *

Armand rolled his eyes "You are being quite rude, this is private school property and you have no business questioning me here, I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Dodging questions and dishonorable ancestors, is there any surprise this man was not voted mayor, stay tuned for more details into the dark past of Mr. Armand!" The report closed excitedly, Armand let out an annoyed growl.

"Adrien, I apologize but lessons will end early today," Armand let out curtly as he moved the reporter towards the door "I don't know what your deal is woman, but it's high time you left, I will not be harassed in this manner any further."

Adrien rolled his eyes in annoyance, well that was his day plan down the drain, he moved to the locker room to change, missing the small black butterfly fly after his teacher.

"Mr. D'Argencourt some people have said you are nothing but an old rusted axe stuck in the medieval ages, do you any thoughts on that?" The report continued to hound after Armand as he walked.

"How could you ask someone that to their face? Is there not a line you should keep in toe?" The man growled, glancing back at the woman for a moment until his head slammed against something hard.

He growled and reared back, his fencing sword effectively shredding the poster that was hung on the object.

He glared at the reporter as the small black butterfly landed on the edge of his blade.

"Darkblade, I am Hawkmoth, for a change at revenge I will grant you power, you need only repay me when the time is right." A dark voice echoed in his ears and a grin appeared on his face.

"Perfect." He sounded as a dark purple aura spread from his blade over his body, the report's eyes widened in surprise when the man in front of her turned into a large suit of armor, red markings decorated his face plate where his eyes would be, the dark lines of metal obscured his mouth as he spun his sword in his hand.

A dark red glow emanated from the cross guard and a quick zap shot forward, the energy struck the reporter and her cameraman and the pair fell into a kneel, Armand tapped at their shoulders quickly "With this, the beginning of an army I will take back Paris."

* * *

Adrien rolled his shoulder as he walked outside of his school, a large column of heavily armored medieval knights marched passed him, his eyes widened when a pair turned to face him.

"Eliminate all who oppose Darkblade!" The pair shouted in unison as they charged him, Adrien withdrew behind the door and locked it quickly.

"Plagg!" He exclaimed urgently, the car was absorbed into his ring quickly, Adrien glanced around the school yard quickly and darted forward, his suit enveloped his body as the door to the school groaned, he jumped into the air and locked down against the far wall as he brought his staff around, his mask slid over his face and his ears appeared atop his head, his heightened senses kicked in an everything slowed down for just a few seconds as he coiled on his legs.

The door burst open an a small half grin appeared on his face as he launched forward, staff spinning round to catch the knights in the side of the head with a loud clang, he dropped into a slid and drove his foot up, sending a knight into the side of the column as he jumped to his feet and cocked his arm back and swung his staff in a wide arc, taking the legs of the knights in his immediate area.

Darkblade turned to face him slowly and charged.

Cat Noir ducked under the slash and spun his staff forward, the man locked against it and Cat Noir extended it, rising into the air his leg snapped out and Darkblade was forced a few steps back as Cat Noir twisted the centre of his staff, the metal clicked into two smaller pieces, he held one in a reverse grip as he darted forward, the two sides of his staff whipping forward and forcing Darkblade onto a defensive as Cat Noir pressed in on him.

Darkblade let out an annoyed growl and cocked his arm back as Cat Noir pushed the knight towards the ground, a dark grey armored fist flew into his field of vision and Cat Noir stumbled when the blow slammed into his head, Cat Noir staggered back and he spotted the green blade of an axe descending towards his head and he dived forward, rolling to a stop and popping onto his feet.

He was on a wide bridge, he glanced around himself quickly as lightning cracked behind him, painting his back with bright light and darkening his face, his grin appeared sinister in that light as he shifted his weight in the centre of the bridge, Darkblade strode forward calmly "Surrender yourself now boy!"

"Why, I won't even need nine lives to beat you, _none_ of you are getting past this point!" Cat Noir hissed in response

Darkblade let out a barking laugh as he lifted his sword and brought it down, the knights in green charged forward, armored boots clacking against the stone as thunder rolled overhead.

And then it started raining, small pellets of ice cold water pelted down and bounced off the armor, puncturing the silence of the streets with a constant drum.

Cat Noir shifted slightly and shot forward, he planted his staff into the ground and kicked up, his legs snapping out to either side of him as he spun round, his boots slammed against the knights and sent them toppling over the edge of the bridge, Cat twirled his staff behind him, grin plastered on his face as he weaved around the weapons sent at him, every missed blow was followed by a loud clang as his staff slammed another knight off the bridge, he shifted around and lifted his staff, axe blades descended on top of it and forced him to drop to his knee, he glanced at the three knights bearing down on him and shifted, slipping his leg around he snapped the weapon around, the knights legs flew out from under them and Cat Noir planted his staff and jumped slamming both his feet into one of the airborne men and sending them hurtling into his comrades, a line of the knights toppled with the force of being slammed by a suit of armor.

Cat's staff quickly snapped into two pieces and he held to either side of himself as he moved, blocking attacks from more than one direction at the time as he flipped back, his staff snapping out to catch a knight in the side of the head.

He landed with a light thud and he breathed heavily, his hand came to his nose that was screaming at him and he saw blood in his hand, he wiped it away with the back of his wrist, must have been from when Darkblade punched him.

Darkblade strode to the front of the column as pointed his sword at Cat Noir challengingly, Cat Noir grinned "That was a great warm-up," The ice cold rain began to soak into his suit and his fingers were slightly numb from gripping his staff so tightly.

His thumb slid up and hit a button on the side of his staff, whether it was awkward or not, he was going to need Ladybugs help sooner rather than later.

Darkblade charged him and Cat Noir shifted dropping back as he spun one of the staffs in his hand, he locked it against his forearm and darted forward the sword came down and he battered it away, Darkblade threw a quick backhand at him and he jerked his head back, he snapped his staff together and threaded it over his shoulder, he extended it out in a quick shot motion and it caught the man in the head, forcing him a step back as Cat Noir repeated the fast poking action with the edge of his staff, Darkblade's arm snapped up and the armored gauntlet slapped away the weapon. Cat Noir spun with the momentum and whirled around, both hands tightened on the weapon as he brought it up and slammed the knight in the chest, sending him airborne and rolling back towards his column of men.

Cat Noir's chest heaved as he glared at the knight, the man got to his feet slowly and charged forward, they exchanged a few blows in rapid succession before Darkblade stepped back and extended his arms to either side of him.

Cat Noir's eyes widened as he once again fell for the bait, Darkblade slammed his sword over the staff and his fist shot up, knocking Cat Noir away and sending his staff flying overhead.

Cat Noir glared at the knight as the column charged towards him, he jumped onto the edge of the bridge and gave them a mock three fingered salute as he fell forward, he caught the railing underneath and curled himself under the bridge quickly.

"Advance to the town hall, let nothing stand in our way." Darkblade commanded flatly and the steady thump of the knights marching resumed above him as the rain mercilessly pelted towards them.

Cat retrieved his staff and snapped it open, Ladybugs faced greeted him with a worried look, she appeared to be moving through the streets quickly "What happened to you kitty?" She asked quickly.

Cat Noir glanced at his face in the mirror, his lip had been split open and puffed up slightly, his nose was still bleeding, he wiped the blood away with his wrist and glanced at the sky.

"They are headed towards Town Hall, I'll cut them off." Cat Noir replied flatly, he had a job to do, he was going to keep this as professional as he could.

"Got it, see you there," Ladybug nodded her head before she paused for a moment "And cat," He paused and glanced down at the screen "Be careful, okay?" She added worriedly.

Cat grinned and nodded his head "Nothing to fear milady, I have nine lives remember?"

Ladybug rolled her eyes and her face disappeared as he extended his staff and flipped onto a rooftop, he broke into a full sprint, determined to reach the town hall before the army of knights did.

* * *

He landed with a wet thud outside the large wooden double doors of the town hall, the Paris flag waved stubbornly despite the torrential downpour of rain, there was enough that he couldn't see the end of the street in front of him, lighting cracked and occasionally illuminated a second of street, but the light ended as quickly as it came leaving him to stare into the expanse of grey water in front of him.

Then sound reached his ears, over the low drum of the rain, the rhythmic stomp of the knights armored march, it was a slow process, Darkblade appeared heading the massive column of armored warriors behind him, their glowing green visors the only thing visible in the thick mist of rain, lightning split the sky again and the two sides poised as Cat Noir lifted his staff in front of himself and split it at the centre.

He heard someone make a deft landed behind him and grinned as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck loudly.

"Destroy any who get in your way, my flag will be flying over Paris by today's end!" Darkblade roared over the rain.

Cat Noir shifted and relaxed, he'd been in hundreds of fights, he'd studied fencing, three different martial arts, this was just another form of training, it was simple, mindless, the basic forms, the movements, the motions, simple flowing movement. The thundering charge of the knights meant little to him as he stepped forward, a small grin appeared on his face as he moved forward.

Ladybug's eyes widened when Cat Noir straightened slightly, his eyes drifted closed and his shoulders shifted with a long breath, his foot slid forward, it was like his entire body was loading into a cannon, it fired and the water seemed to freeze around him as the knights in a long line were sent into the air, she could have blinked and missed it, he snapped through them like a blur of black, their weapons flew from the their hands and they groaned from the ground he slid to a stop and a small grin appeared on his face.

Then it was her turn to move, she sidestepped a strike and her mind was snapped into the present moment as adrenaline coursed through her veins she flipped around and her leg flipped up, kicking the knights weapon into the air as he yoyo flipped around her and slammed into his head, sending the suit of armor hurtling back as he cart wheeled around drew the wire around herself, her yoyo snapping through the legs of the knights surrounding her as she whipped it back and kicked it forward, she rolled forward and spun gracefully using the motions to bend the yoyo to her movements, it snaked out and around knocking away weapons and downing knights as she moved, rain soaked her hair and suit, dripped from her face and her string began to slip in her hands.

"Where's the Akuma?!" She shouted over the rain.

Cat Noir flipped backwards over his hands and over the top of her, his staff dragged wind and rain behind it as he created more room for the pair to fight in.

"I think it's in his sword!" Cat Noir called back, the yoyo shot passed his head and he ducked low, the yoyo slid over him and his staff shot forward taking out a knight that was closing on his lady, the two moved like a well oiled machine.

She covered his weaknesses with flashy movements that drew an opponent's attention just as well as they dispatched them, the grace of each twist and turn would put a professional ballerina to shame as she rolled over his back and kicked her yoyo forward like a bullet.

His style was subtle, containing a different kind of grace, the deadly grace of a panther, quick motions and faster strikes, combined with tricky acrobatics and superior reach thanks to his staff, his staff whipped over her head as she ducked and the halberd that was aimed at her was battered away as he rolled forward bringing the staff down with both hands the ground cracked underneath the force of the blow as the knights suddenly paused, shields slowly materialized in their hands and the two hero's were contained in the centre but the wall of metal.

No one moved as the knights spread apart enough to let Darkblade stride into the centre of the arena, water dripping from his armor as he planted the tip of his sword into the ground and watched the pair ahead of him.

"As Paris's champions, it is only fitting the duel to decide her fate is fought between us," Darkblade began "The honor of my family will not be tarnished this day." He lifted his sword and pointed it at them.

Cat Noir's chest moved forward slightly as he straightened and his shoulders rolled back a flash of lightning narrowed his eyes to slits as he spun his staff around in front of him in a slow figure eight and held it out beside him as his stance widened, he didn't speak a word as Ladybug shifted behind him.

The tension that hung in the air could be cut with a knife as she spun her yoyo at her side, Darkblade shifted and darted forward his sword cutting towards her, Cat Noir slid in between the two and blocked as Ladybug sent her yoyo forward, Darkblade shifted his fist knocking the thing into the air as a shield appeared on his arm, the red of his family crest marking the front as he locked against Cat Noir.

Cat Noir shifted stepping back quickly he slid the man's sword to the side and planted his staff, he used it as a spring to whirl himself around, Darkblade ducked under the kick and slashed upwards, Ladybugs yoyo shot forward and battered the sword back into the ground as she charged forward, Darkblade spun sharply and the edge of his shield flew towards her head, she folded back and slid under it as Cat Noir struck forward Darkblade blocked the strike with his sword as Ladybugs yoyo bounced off his shield, Cat Noir spun inwards and snapped his staff in two, he tossed a half to Ladybug as he brought his half around Darkblade locked Cat Noir's staff against his shield as Ladybug shot forward staff coming around to slam into Darkblade's side.

The Dark knight let out an irritated growl and shoved Cat Noir aside, Ladybug back stepped from the sword and struck forward, Darkblade held her half of the staff with his sword and shifted forward, she let out a grunt as his shield slammed into her chest heavily and she was pushed back, Cat Noir jumped forward and Darkblade was forced to take a back away, the opponents circled each other slowly, Cat Noir glanced at Ladybug worriedly, she held her side and winced slightly with every step.

Cat Noir grabbed her half of his staff and snapped back onto his as he shortened so he could use it in one hand, Ladybug spun her yoyo and eyed Darkblade closely.

Cat Noir's eyes narrowed on Darkblade dangerously as the knight paused, Cat Noir's mouth hardened into a flat line, a dark orb appeared in Cat's hand as he slid his foot forward, he glared at Darkblade and sent Ladybug a quick signal, she nodded her head and took a step back as Cat Noir growled "Cataclysm." He crushed the orb in his hand and Ladybug stepped forward quickly and launched herself from Cat's shoulder as he darted forward.

Darkblade's eyes widened behind his mask as Cat Noir's staff snapped forward and his shield was flying through the air, Cat Noir was hovering slightly in the air in front of Darkblade, his teeth bared in an angry snarled as Darkblade drew his sword back and drove it forward.

Cat Noir's face shifted into a slight smirk as his palm shot across his body and connected with the flat of the sword, everything paused for a moment before the sword cracked and then the blade flew through the air and clattered to the ground, the small black and purple butterfly took to the sky as Darkblade collapsed to his knees.

Ladybug drew a small line over her compact and spun it around herself, the purple glow surrounded it and she snapped it over the Akuma and landed with a light thud, she opened her compact and a small white butterfly took to the sky, she smiled warmly as the rain came to a stop, thin lines of sunlight breaking through the expanse of black above them.

Cat Noir's ring let out a loud beep and she glanced at him, he smiled at her warmly, a smile that held in his eyes as the light in them brightened a little "It is time to bid you adieu milady." He tapped a finger to his forehead and bowed as he gave her a wave.

"You make sure you take care of that cut!" She called after him loudly.

He grinned as he landed atop a building and darted off, Ladybug lingered outside the Town Hall only long enough to make sure everyone was find after being reverted back to normal and jumped off in the opposite direction to where Cat had gone.

* * *

Marinette landed on her bed, her face contorted into a frown as she thought.

"What's wrong Marinette?" Tikki asked with a frown.

The girl glanced at her Kwami for a moment before her mouth opened "When Cat had gotten the shield away from Darkblade, I thought that was it, I thought he was going to take the hit from that sword to get it out of his hands, Tikki, my power wouldn't have fixed that would it?!" She asked, her voice rising a few octaves from the fear of it.

The Kwami shook her head in answer and Marinette fell against her bed with a thud, her head in the pillow, Tikki flew closer to the girl and heard a muffled "I thought he was going to die."

The Kwami saddened slightly before another set of words reached her ears.

"I was so scared."

Tikki landed atop Marinette head lightly and did her best to smooth the girls worries as she looked out the window.

* * *

"You went overboard today," Plagg commented from his spot on Adrien's bed, a mountain of cheese next to him "There were way too many close calls."

"I know." Adrien sighed

"No, I don't think you do, I improve your senses and your basic skills, I don't make you immortal you could have _died_ today Adrien." Plagg glared at the boy from his spot.

"But I didn't," Adrien countered simply "We saved Paris, cleansed the Akuma, Plagg there wasn't anything else I could do!"

"There were many thing you could do!" Plagg countered angrily.

"Not that would keep her safe!" Adrien exclaimed "I could barely keep up with Darkblade, Plagg, it's fine if I get hurt, I can pull through, I know I can but if I let _her_ get hurt I'd never forgive myself!"

"Do you think she'd be happy to know you thought about taking a sword to the chest?" Plagg snapped in question.

"I-"

"No, she wouldn't, you were _lucky_ that shield came off, if that didn't work you planned to take the sword straight through your chest and give her time to clease the Akuma, I'm in your head Adrien I know what you were planning," Plagg shot at him "But you need to think _before_ you leap, Ladybug would never forgive _herself_ or _you_ if you up and died on her!"

Adrien's eyes lowered "I know, okay…I know."

Plagg sighed "Look, you're alive and that's what matters, but the recklessness has to stop Adrien."

The blonde inclined his head calmly and moved into his bed quietly.

* * *

 **A/N: Heh, one before the exciting conclusion, I thought I needed to add some kind of tension and I'd been neglecting this stories action, so I killed two birds with one stone, I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, this was actually the very first chapter of this fiction I ever wrote, it's just been sitting here waiting for its moment!**

 **Now onto our regularly scheduled replies!**

 **NitenGale: You're correct, the kiss itself wasn't the catalyst for Cat Noir realizing it was the real Marinette, it was everything else, the familiarity of it, I can actually fully elaborate on this after the next chapter, but for now I don't want to spoil anything!**

 **MagicQuill42: Well, I'm glad you've been enjoying the post reveal, unfortunately the next chapter will be the reveal and the conclusion and I didn't really do any fluff this chapter, I promise the next chapter will more than make up for it though!**

 **Nerdofrai: I'm glad you enjoy, I'm going to assume you meant one of the best writers, but I don't really think that way, I'm inexperienced and make many mistakes, there are certainly much better writers on this site than little ol' me, but I do my best to improve after each chapter, so I'm glad you have been enjoying this story!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Welcome one and all to the grand, epic, mystical, amazing, other adjectives that you can string together that could be excitement, finale of this fiction! It's been…an adventure writing this story and I've thoroughly enjoyed the writing process, as well as reading all the reviews, I've taken a few things into consideration and I hope the wrap up of this fiction satisfies! Without further ado, onto the story!**

* * *

Adrien shot up with an abrupt cough and looked at his hand, he had forgotten about his nose when he had fallen asleep, it felt like most of his face was on fire as he staggered to the bathroom, blood had dried and caked over his top lip as he stared at his appearance, he looked like he just got home from a bar fight, although, that would probably be better than how he actually received these injuries.

He coughed again, mucus and dried blood falling into the sink in a disgusting combination of green and red and he half glared, half grimaced at it as he washed it down the sink.

"Plagg!" He exclaimed quickly, the small black Kwami floated into the bathroom and rubbed at his eyes.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"I need you to do something about this," He pointed to his nose and the bruised eye next to it "I can't be walking around looking like my face was introduced to the broad side of a brick wall."

Plagg watched the boy impassively for a few seconds "I'll fix the nose and the eye, I'm leaving the busted lip though."

"Why?" Adrien asked

"Punishment for being stupid." Plagg replied blankly

"Hey, I said I'd be more careful," Adrien defended "Besides, I'm a superhero that is trying to stop _evil_ in my spare time, I mean, danger is kind of part of the job description."

"There's a difference between danger and recklessness, a _big_ one," Plagg shot at him "Danger exists all the time, but recklessness is what gets you _killed_."

"And I said I'd be more careful!" Adrien fumed.

"Tough, I'm not fixing the lip, it can serve as a reminder for the promise till it heals." Plagg crossed his arms stubbornly.

Adrien raked a hand through his hair "What am I even going to tell people?"

"Tell them one of the knights caught you yesterday but Cat Noir saved you or something," Plagg offered as Adrien held up his ring, Plagg hovered over the top of it for a moment "It's not entirely untrue, the knights did get you and you saved yourself, so in a manner of speaking it's not lying."

"Oh, technicalities," Adrien rolled his eyes as Plagg absorbed into the ring, Adrien felt his face begin to heat and tingle and he clenched his fists to keep from trying to scratch at the wounds, the feeling disappeared just as quickly as it had come and Plagg leaned against the mirror calmly, Adrien inspected his nose, that now sat straight in its correct position and his face was, mostly normal, if you ignored the swollen bloodied split on his bottom lip "Well, it could be worse."

Plagg rolled his eyes "Like people would even notice your nose was a few millimeters out of whack."

"I think people would be attentive enough to notice if I had a broken nose or not." Adrien countered as he sauntered back into his room to get dressed.

Plagg just mumbled something intelligible as Adrien tossed him piece of cheese in thanks for the superhero healing.

* * *

Marinette glared at her alarm from her comfortable position within her small mountain of blankets, mentally debating how long she could put up with the sound before it drove her completely insane, her body retained only a small amount of stiffness from the hits she took the day before, Tikki already having healed her completely by the time she arrived home.

She relented after a few more moments moving over to her phone and sliding her finger over the screen to silence it, Tikki emerged from the pile of blankets slowly and peered at her "What time is it?"

Marinette was half way through tying her hair up when she glanced at the Kwami, one hair tie hanging in her mouth, her finished her right pig tail and started the second one as she opened her phone, her eyes widened as her face blanked.

"Classes started an hour ago?!" She let out in a panicked scream, she grabbed her purse and bag and darted from the room, finishing her hair up as she ran down the stairs and onto the street, Tikki managed to slip into the girls purse before they reached the store.

Marinette looked through the window of her classroom slowly, her teacher turned back to the blackboard and she opened the door slowly and crept inside as he slid the door closed the hinges decided to let out a traitorous squeak and the girl started.

"Marinette, when we come late, we try not to draw attention to ourselves." The teacher noted, turning around to give the girl a flat look.

Marinette chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head "Sorry."

The teacher just nodded and moved back to the board, Marinette sat down with a quiet sigh and peered around the room, she frowned at the empty seat beside her and leaned over and tapped Nino on the shoulder, the boy looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

Marinette gestured to the spot beside her "What happened?"

Nino glanced at the spot for a second before he spoke "She thought Chloe was Ladybug and got suspended for snooping around in her locker."

Marinette stared at the boy blankly, her mouth hung agape as she failed to find words to effectively express her surprise.

"They don't even have the same hair color!" Adrien practically hissed.

Marinette started slightly at the voice, the boy glanced at Chloe out of the corner of his eye with a grimace, Nino raised his palms calmly "Look, I thought she was off base too, but you know Alya, once she gets something in her head."

"She's incredibly stubborn about it," Marinette sighed and nodded as she sat back down with a thud "Still Chloe?"

Adrien started talking animatedly to Nino as the teacher turned around "Adrien, if you can't keep your chatting quiet move away from Nino, sit next to Marinette, hopefully her silence will rub off on you."

Adrien nodded his head quickly and grabbed his bag and books, shifting them over and aisle he sat down next to Marinette with a quick grin, the girls eyes were drawn to the large healing cut on his lip and she lifted an eyebrow "You fight a battle?"

Adrien glanced at her in surprise, she gestured to her bottom lip quickly and his eyes widened in realization, he tilted his head slightly to the side and smirked "Maybe I did, maybe I was taking on an army of medieval knights with nothing but my bare hands!" He exclaimed in hushed whisper, throwing his hands into the air.

Marinette giggled into the back of her hand and glanced at the teacher, who was busy writing something onto the board "Well, that would be an interesting tale sir."

"Does the princess wish to hear it?" Adrien asked confidentially, flashing a grin and raising his eyebrow slightly.

Marinette eyed him for a moment, momentarily forgetting she was talking to Adrien and not Cat Noir "Well Kitty, I'd won't say I'm not interested." She quipped back before she could really stop herself, or think about what she said.

Adrien paused, he froze for a moment and just stared at her in surprise, he opened his mouth to speak before something flickered onto the wall at the front of the class, the principle was standing next to a dark skinned girl dressed in all black and white, a signal wave on her chest as she smirked the black butterfly mask of an Akuma obscured her face and her dark magenta eyes glinted slightly as she spoke "I'm Lady Wifi, revealer of the truth! For our first expose, your principle would like to share a little something with you all."

Mr. Damocles stiffened slightly when the girl glared at him before she spoke again "So, is it true you wrongfully suspended a student named Alya today?"

"Uh…Yes it is." Mr. Damocles answered quietly

"You admit to being bias? Unjust? Completely _unfair_?" Lady Wifi demanded, Marinette frowned at the phone in the girls hand, the small Ladybug strap hanging from the end caused her eyes to widen slightly.

"Yes, I was." Mr. Damocles sighed in response.

Marinette's eyes affixed to the desk in front of her as the principle was frozen by a dark purple pause symbol, Adrien glanced at the girl beside him worriedly "Marinette?"

Marinette started at the worried tone of voice and sent a nervous smile his way "T-That, just really looked like Alya."

Adrien's eyes widened, he understood that feeling, when Nino became the bubbler it was the same "Don't beat yourself up over it, nothing you could have done, just leave it to Ladybug and Cat Noir." He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

The video feed cut off and the teacher looked around "Everyone, for your own safety I suggest getting home, remember to read chapters four and five."

The students darted to their feet and bolted, Marinette slammed through the door of the girls bathroom and looked around "Tikki lets go."

"You're going to have to fight your best friend." Tikki noted quickly.

"No, I'm going to _save_ my best friend." Marinette corrected simply as Tikki flew into the girls earrings, Marinette's suit appeared with a quick flash as she drew her mask over her eyes and slid out of the small window in at the end of the bathroom and pulled herself onto a roof opposite the school, she turned and darted towards the hotel.

* * *

Adrien ducked into the bathroom quickly and Plagg floated in front of him "Very smooth pretty boy, why not just say, Oh, I'm Cat Noir and I was fighting knights yesterday." The small black cat rolled his eyes.

"Now is not the time Plagg." Adrien sighed as he grinned and held up his ring, Plagg simply shrugged as he was pulled into the ring, Cat Noir extended his staff and flipped through one of the open windows on the schools roof. He glanced around for a moment before he spotted Ladybug making a beeline for the hotel and followed after her.

* * *

Ladybug landed with a light thud on a building opposite the hotel, she pulled up her compact calmly and looked through the window of Chloe's room, the girl was dressed in a replica of her suit and tossing a toy yoyo around, Ladybug rolled her eyes at the sight and crouched down calmly.

"Spying milady?" Cat Noir's overly confident voice reached her ears and she started and glanced at him, it must have been a trick of the light, he appeared much more handsome against the backdrop of the afternoon sky and she turned her head forward stubbornly.

"What, did you actually think that was me?" Ladybug cracked an eye open and glanced at him.

He actually looked offended "I would never confuse you with," his staff clicked open slightly and he grimaced " _That_." He hissed.

Ladybug chuckled when a bright pink light cut off their vision from the room, she gestured with her head and the two darted across the square and rolled through the door.

"Who _are_ you?" Lady Wifi demanded

Cat Noir gestured to himself and flexed his arms above him with a frown, his body language just asking ' _really?_ '

Ladybug ran a hand over her face and rolled her eyes, at least he was being a little bit more like himself, that was kind of a plus, in a way.

"I thought _she_ was Ladybug," Lady Wifi gestured to Chloe, who was frozen in the centre of them before the girl in black shrugged, she drew a quick line on her phone and Chloe tripped forward and toppled towards her bed "Not that it matters, the unmasking of Ladybug happens tonight!"

A purple disc flew forward and Cat Noir ducked under it before darting forward, Lady Wifi hit something on her phone and Cat slid to a stop as what may as well have been a wall of purple flew towards him, his staff flew into his hand and he grabbed Ladybug by the arm and pulled her behind him as he spun his staff, cutting a clean hole through it, Ladybug tapped his arm and mouthed 'follow me' he inclined his head as she darted to the right, he went left as she stepped onto the eave and flipped over Lady Wifi and bolted into the hallway, he slid under the villains legs and followed after Ladybug quickly, stepping to the side as a purple pause symbol planted itself of the wall beside his head, Ladybug dived into the stairwell and he followed after her, door swinging closed behind them as they darted down the stairs.

"Wanna share your plan with me?" Cat Noir asked as they descended flights of steps.

"She draws her powers from her phone, if we go to where there is no signal," Ladybug explained dodging back as a purple lock symbol landed near her feet "No more powers."

"Easy cleanse for us," Cat Noir chuckled another disc flew passed his head and rolled out of the way "Farther down."

She nodded as they reached the bottom floor, the turned and spun their weapons and waited for Lady Wifi to follow them, a purple disc landed at Ladybugs feet and their heads shot up, Lady Wifi paused and glanced at her phone before glaring down at them "How can we be expected to trust you if you don't even tell us who you are?!" She demanded before darting back up the stairs.

Ladybug let out a quick curse and Cat Noir glanced at her "What do you do when you're not doing this?"

Ladybug glanced at him for a moment and moved passed him to run up the stairs "I don't think now's the best time." She replied honestly.

"Implying you'd tell me some other time?" Cat asked as they moved up the stairs.

"She's locked the doors," Ladybug groaned in irritation "I design clothes, okay, I want to be a designer."

Cat chuckled "I'm a model."

Ladybug glanced at him "That explains why you want to keep your pretty face intact," He frowned when she noticed the split on his lip "What about that, how come it hasn't healed?"

"My Kwami told me it was teach me a lesson." Cat Noir answered with a shrug.

"You have a Kwami too?" Ladybug asked curiously

"Yeah, he's this little lazy black cat that eats cheese." Cat Noir answered as they found a door that didn't have a locked symbol on it.

"Pop quiz ends here kitty," Ladybug chuckled "Ready?"

Cat Noir nodded and his grip on his staff tightened as they shifted and Ladybug began counting down from three, they both burst through the door and looked around quickly finding nothing but an empty dining room with a few mobile phones spread around the tables.

"Well, _I_ was ready." Cat Noir gestured to himself and grinned.

Ladybug rolled her eyes as they walked into the room slowly, a glow emanated from the phone on the centre table as Lady Wifi slowly appeared above it, the moment she arrived she let out a loud laugh and threw a locked symbol on the door behind them, Cat Noir dived and rolled out of the way as she sent discs flying at him in rapid succession.

"I thought she wanted to know who _you_ were," Cat exclaimed as he jumped into the air and extended his staff, using it to push himself back to the ground before she could hit him, he ducked a weaved "This doesn't seem fair."

Ladybug tossed her yoyo forward and Lady Wifi glanced at her and quickly melted away, her yoyo struck air and the villain appeared over a different table and sent another disc at Cat Noir who jumped the first and rolled his staff in front of himself to block the second, the impact sent him slamming into the wall with a groan as Lady Wifi turned to Ladybug.

Ladybug widened her stance slightly and spun her yoyo above her as she moved, Lady wifi sent a few discs at her with a quick flick of her wrist and Ladybug cut them in half with her yoyo and eyed the girl calmly, Cat Noir got back to his feet slowly and Lady Wifi snapped around, sending another lock at him that he jumped back to dodge, he flew through a door that led into a hallway and Lady Wifi locked it behind him.

Ladybug glanced a the door and spun her yoyo in a quick movement, it shot towards Lady Wifi, who disappeared above the phone a reappeared a small distance from Ladybug, she rolled forward, yoyo flipped around and snapping the phones in half in a rapid motion as she spun out of the way of the discs "I think it's about time we localized your connection." Ladybug joked with a laugh as Lady Wifi jumped back.

Cat Noir flew through the window with a grin, glass shattering around him as he flew over the top of Lady Wifi's head as she ducked under him "And I thought my cat puns were bad."

"Not everyone can be as impressed with themselves as you kitty." Ladybug replied simply.

Lady Wifi growled at them as he flicked a disc at Cat Noir who dodged out of the way as the pair moved into the kitchen, Cat Noir slid under the table to dodge the lock sent at him as Ladybug snatched a large pot from the table, since she didn't have enough room to use her yoyo properly in the small space, she blocked a shot that flew at her and Cat Noir was forced to spin out of the way, he toppled back and slid across the floor of the freezer, the door clicked shut behind him and Lady Wifi locked it quickly, Ladybug's head snapped over to the door in a lapse of judgment and her hand was pinned to the wall, followed closely by the opposite one.

* * *

Adrien stared at the blue roof in surprise as Plagg hovered over him, Adrien's eyes widened as he looked around "My ring!" He exclaimed as his head whipped around.

"Plagg, help me look." Adrien demanded urgently, the small black cat hovered up for a moment before flying behind one of the large shelving units.

"I can't see it." Plagg called back.

"I have to get back out there," Adrien shivered as the cold began to set in "We have to get out of _here_ before we freeze." he dropped down and reached under the shelving, praying that whatever luck he had, didn't dry up in this moment.

* * *

Ladybug glared at Lady Wifi as the girl strode towards her, a purple ring with a camera in it appeared behind her and she grinned "Her it is ladies and gentlemen, The reveal of the century!"

Ladybug smirked as she watched the girl calmly "I promise it won't be anything quite so spectacular."

Lady Wifi growled at her and reached towards her face, taking the edges of the mask she pulled, Ladybug's head moved forward with the pull, but the mask didn't come loose, Lady Wifi glared at Ladybug angrily "Why won't it come off?"

"Magic, you think this thing was plastic or something?" Ladybug laughed "You think it would stay while I'm flipping around all over the place if it wasn't special?"

Lady Wifi lifted an eyebrow "You think your boyfriend's suit is magic enough to stop him from freezing?"

Ladybugs eyes widened as she realized Cat had fallen it not the freezer.

"Ah, that look of fear is priceless." Lady Wifi taunted with a laugh "Well, I've got bigger fish to fry." She gave a quick salute as the locks around Ladybugs arms disappeared.

She darted over to the freezer door and beat on it with her fist "Cat?!"

"Still alive," Cat called back from the inside "But I'd like to get out, I don't much like the idea of becoming a pawpsicle."

Ladybug rolled her eyes but her head snapped around the kitchen, looking for something she could use to get rid of the lock, he glanced at her compact for a moment, she used it she had a timer and there was no guarantee they would make it in time, she glanced at the door and let out a breath as she tossed it into the air, a small box fell into her hands and she flipped it.

A small symbol on the corner told her what it was made out of and she darted to the other side of the kitchen, she grabbed the microwave and threw the box into it, she pushed a table against to door and plugged the microwave in, she hit ten minutes and booted the electronic against the lock.

Adrien found his ring and sighed in relief, his lips had begun to turn purple and small segments of ice matted his hair as he slipped the ring on, he quickly transformed and heard a loud crash from outside the door and then Ladybug tore it open, she eyed him worriedly as he staggered out of the door and fell against her, she could feel how cold he was as she pushed the door closed and sat down.

But he was breathing, she cradled his head against her knees and looked around, the camera was still sitting in the corner of the room, watching the closely, her earrings beeped at her alarmingly and she looked around.

"You're gonna….change back," Cat heaved out as he pulled himself to his feet "We need…to hurry."

"I know," Ladybug forced him to stay down as she looked around, she needed to warm Cat up first, she jumped to her feet and grabbed a large black fry pan, she climbed onto one of the benches and slid the pot over the camera, she flipped a knife she had retrieved in her hand and rammed the blade through the mortar of the tiles, effectively nailing the pan over the camera, she jumped back down and darted over to Cat Noir.

Who had managed to pull himself into a position leaning against a cupboard, he eyed her carefully as she let out a few deep breaths, she lowered down beside him and he eyed her "This time it wasn't actually my fault."

"What?" Ladybug asked in confusion, her earrings beeped again but she ignored them.

"I know I'm always reckless, but I want, no I _need_ you to be safe," Cat Noir sighed as he ran a hand through his hair "I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."

Ladybug stared at him for a few seconds before she spoke "We are partners, _superhero_ partners at that, neither of us will ever be safe while we are fighting," She paused and he watched her closely "I don't want you to get hurt protecting me either Cat, you are… _important_ to me, You'd never forgive yourself? What about me? If I just let you get hurt I don't know what I'd do."

"Nursing me tenderly doesn't cross your mind?" Cat Noir joked with a grin.

"If I promised that I feel like you'd just hurt yourself more." Ladybug frowned

"I wouldn't do that," Cat paused "Much."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and placed her hands on his shoulders, she let out another breath and her hand brushed against his cheek "Still cold?"

"Freezing." Cat corrected, despite the fact that he seemed to be much better already.

She eyed him carefully "Well, I need to warm you up so you can help me, we have a bit of timer to deal with now."

Cat nodded his head slowly, he shifted to get to his feet when she pushed him back down, he lifted his head to look at her when she pressed forward, he stared at her in surprise when her lips connected with his, it wasn't the first time, but he reacted like it was and just froze there like a statue, his heart slammed against his chest and his entire body refused to listen to him as she pushed herself back, a crimson blush painted on her cheeks "Warm?" She asked

"Boiling." He replied breathlessly.

"Good, because I have a plan." She smiled and determination lit in her eyes as Cat got to his feet, her earring beeped at them and he glanced at them worriedly.

"Go to the roof and break the signal tower," Ladybug explained "When the door unlocks I'll follow after you."

Cat eyed her for a moment and nodded his head "How do I get to the roof exactly?"

Ladybug extended a hand calmly and hit a button, a small door opened and he glanced inside "Service elevator!" Ladybug exclaimed with a grin.

Cat Noir flashed a grin as he climbed inside and she hit the button to send it back up, Cat Noir tensed slightly as the small elevator came to a halt, when the door didn't open he shifted around and slammed his feet into it, it dented forward and he kicked again, the door snapped off and he rolled into the hallway as the elevator dinged, he rolled his eyes when Lady Wifi shot a glare at him and he dived through the door into the staircase, the wall over the service elevator exploded behind him and showered Ladybug with dust.

Cat Noir darted upstairs, the small orb of black appeared in his hand as he moved, he slammed his shoulder into the door and looked around the roof, the wifi tower was slightly above him and he jumped, the tower glowed and Lady Wifi appeared above it, she smirked at him as he pulled his staff into his free hand as he crushed the black orb in his fist and glared at her.

"Aren't you just as curious to see who Ladybug is?" Lady Wifi asked him simply

"Curious? Of course I am, I've been fighting together with her for a long time, we are partners, I learned more about her today than I have before, but if I found out who she is it will be because she wants me too, not because I forced her too." Cat Noir spat at her as he shifted and bolted forward.

She flicked a lock symbol at him and he slid his foot out and spun in, he swung his staff around and battered the lock straight back up at her, Lady Wifi's eyes widened and she dived out of the way as Cat Noir flipped over her and slammed his fist into the side of the signal tower, it snapped free with a metallic clank before the metal rusted and disappeared, Lady Wifi's eyes widened as he phone's signal died.

Cat Noir charged her and she jumped to her feet, a quick punch flew towards him and he shifted and blocked "Give me the phone." He growled

"Never!" Lady Wifi shot at him as she jumped back and threw a kick at him.

Cat Noir crouched low and slid forward, hand catching the girls leg as he spun, rolling her over him and flipping her, she landed on her back with a groan and the phone slipped from her grasp, sliding to Ladybugs feet, she lifted her foot and slammed her heel into the screen, it cracked and the small black butterfly flew into the air, Ladybug drew a ling on her compact and it opened, she threw it forward quickly, the Akuma being sealed inside for a moment before it cracked open and the small white butterfly flew out of it.

As things began to revert back to normal, Ladybug and Cat Noir bolted down the stairs, they reached the hotel lobby when Ladybugs earrings beeped at her in warning, she glanced around, finding only a small closet to hide in when he transformation ended.

She glanced at Cat Noir and moved towards the door, he caught her arm "I…I don't want to force you." He admitted quickly, staring into her eyes for a long moment, Ladybug glanced at his hand on her arm and for an agonizingly slow moment he thought she was going to shake him off, she swung the door to the room open and grabbed his hand, she stepped back and yanked him forward, the door swung closed behind him and she pressed him against the wall, lips capturing his in a searing kiss.

He reacted this time, his hand folded around her waist as the beeping got unbearably loud, her felt the leather of her suit disappear under his hand, he felt the mask melt away from her face, he didn't open his eyes, just pressed forward eagerly, pulling her flush to his chest in a fluid motion, he felt Plagg groan in the back of his mind and his own transformation ended.

Marinette trailed her hand over the leather as it disappeared underneath her fingertips, her hand finally came to a rest on the back of his head, raking his hair in between her fingers as his tongue prodded ever so slightly against her lip, she gasped against the kiss and her lips parted slightly as he invaded her mouth and she titled her hear back. She wasn't surprised when the air around them finally grew thin and they had to pull back, she pressed her forehead into his chest and squeezed her eyes closed, afraid to look him in the face.

Adrien pressed his nose into the top of his hair and stared at the door, only a few locks of dark hair in the corners of his vision, he didn't need to look, he knew who it was, he had figured it out a long time ago, well most of him had figured it out, her smell, her taste, her body, it was all exactly the same.

"Marinette." He let out in a breathy whisper, his mouth split into a wide grin from ear to ear against the top of her head.

The girl stiffened, with her face where it was he shouldn't be able to figure that out, she pulled back slightly and peered up slowly, her eyes finally meeting the pair of bright green emeralds of Adrien Agreste, she felt like she should have been more surprised, the warm smile on his face and light in his eyes had always been the same, her arms tightened around his back slowly and she grinned widely "This might be the best time to say it, but I've _really_ like you forever Adrien."

She didn't think his smile could get any wider as he let out a quiet chuckle "Imagine my surprise, when milady and my princess are one and the same."

She laughed and pushed herself onto her toes to press her lips against his again.

* * *

Everything died down for a few days after that, Adrien and Marinette had parted ways to head home and due to a busy few days of modeling she didn't get a chance to speak to him.

She stared at her ceiling and sighed "Tikki, this isn't how imagined the first week of my relationship with Adrien at all." She complained

The Kwami glanced at her "Adrien and Cat Noir." She corrected

"Whatever," Marinette waved off "I mean, I get that he's busy and his dads always been kind of…well you know, but he can't even call me?"

A sharp knock at her window interrupted her rambling complaint and she started when she got to her window to find Cat Noir staring at her with a wide grin on his face.

Her eyes widened and she smoothed out her hair nervously as she opened the door, she prayed he hadn't heard her as he sauntered into the room calmly and she closed the door behind him, she drew a bundle of hair in her hand and squeezed it nervously as she bit at her lower lip and fiddled restlessly.

Cat Noir glanced at her and his eyes softened, he walked over to her slowly and wrapped his arms around her, his chin falling lightly on the top of her head as he sighed "I should have called you."

"Mmm." Marinette hummed, sensing there was more.

"A lot happened, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you at all," He sighed "Well, I used to think about you just as much but now it's much more than just a fantasy and I'm nervous and I don't entirely know what I should do."

Marinette's head lifted slightly and he glanced down, momentarily losing himself in her eyes as she watched him and listened patiently, he shifted around and laid himself across her bed, folding his arms over her stomach and placing a light kiss on the back of her head.

"I _really_ like you Marinette," He confessed "I like _all_ of you, but I know you've never been that fond of Cat Noir."

Marinette shifted slightly, pushing him over and planting herself on top of him, legs straddling either side of his legs as she leaned on her hands to pin him down "Don't presume to know what I like and don't like alley cat."

Cat Noir lifted an eyebrow.

"You may be flirty, have an infinite supply of _awful_ puns," He opened his mouth to protest, but the words died in his throat as she shot him a look "And your reckless, something I plan to do something about in the future mind you, I won't have my boyfriend running around getting himself hurt because of me."

"I thought I was your partner." Cat Noir grinned as she blushed and averted her eyes for a moment.

"Y-You've been promoted," She stuttered out, she shook her head quickly and eyed him carefully as his hands moved up her waist, she lifted an eyebrow "I think you're enjoying this a little too much."

He grinned as he moved forward, flipping her onto her back and giving off a quick chuckle, his transformation disappearing from around him as he hovered over her slightly "Any guy would enjoy a girl as cute as you over him like that."

Marinette blushed and covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.

"I'm not that cute." She defended.

"Nope, my girlfriend is the _cutest_." He corrected himself with a grin, her fingers split apart and she watched him calculatingly.

"Really?" She asked carefully.

"Milady's lack of trust wounds me." Adrien put on a face of mock hurt and placed a hand over his heart.

Adrien's face softened as he leaned towards her, he gave her a light kiss on the cheek "You're cute Mari," He stated genuinely, he moved over her face and pressed a light kiss to her eye "I love your eyes," His finger curled a lock of her hair around it and he smiled "I love your hair."

Marinette colored darkly and pushed him away from her to breath, her entire body already feeling like it was on fire, she heard a quiet chortle and her eyes shot over to the two Kwami's, Tikki and another one, she assumed it was Adrien's, the small green eyed black cat watched the pair with amusement in his eyes, whilst Tikki had a far off dreamy expression on her face.

Adrien's face heated incredibly quickly and he moved over to his Kwami quickly, clasping the small creature in his hand he looked at Marinette, she understood the small queue and gestured to the small lockbox she had built to stow her diary, he walked over to it, removed her diary and placed the Kwami inside with a piece of cheese, Marinette handed Tikki and a cookie and the small red Kwami followed Plagg into the box.

"I'll keep him in line!" She exclaimed before giving Marinette a quick wink.

The girl blushed darkly and turned to look outside, Adrien ran a hand through his hair and walked over to her slowly, he placed a hand on her shoulder and she leaned backwards into him calmly and sighed.

The pair stayed like that for awhile, staring out her window at the lights of Paris they could see from Marinette's window, Adrien nuzzled the back of her head and her hand traced lazy circles on his forearm.

"I love you." Adrien whispered

Marinette turned her head to look up at him and smiled warmly at the nervous blush that painted his cheeks as he kept his eyes glued on the world outside her room, she placed a hand against his cheek and turned his head, making him look at her as she leaned up and pressed a lingering kiss on his lips.

"I love you too."

 ***************************************************The End***************************************************************

* * *

 **A/N: Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, that's my long sigh of relief, done, finished, 100% complete, rounding it all off with a confession. I really hope you all enjoyed the wrap up and I hope it wasn't too cliché or cheesy, well, I mean I know it's cheesy, but I hope it's not** _ **that**_ **cheesy you know? Well, with the end of this fiction I will smooth out the details of my next one and get that up some point tomorrow (Hopefully.) I'd like to thank everyone who followed, favorited, reviewed and read, you guys are awesome and I'm really glad there were so many people who enjoyed my writing and I hope to see you in my next Miraculous fiction as I endeavor to improve my writing further.**

 **Replies!**

 **NitenGale: I agree, Cat's recklessness is kind of a character trait for him, as I sort of touched on in this chapter it's something that he will always have, he won't just not protect Ladybug even if she'd rather him not get hurt, so with Marinette's promises of figuring something out, I think that's about as good as I think it's going to get with him as far it goes this story does primarily focus on the romance leading up to the reveal more than anything else, I do plan to cover much more in future fictions inside this fandom though :)**

 **And with that, the story is over, another big thanks to everyone who stopped in to read, or stops in the future to check this story out, I really hope you all enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it and with that I will see you guys in the next one, peace!**


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